State of New Hampshire
Department of Revenue Administration
109 Pleasant Street
PO Box 487, Concord, NH 03302-0487
Telephone (603) 230-5000
WWW. revenue.nh.gov
Lindsay M. Stapp MUNICIPAL AND PROPERTY
Commissioner DIVISION
James P. Getry
Carolynn J. Lear Diractor
Assistant Cormisgaioner
Samuel 7, Greene
Assistant Dieactor
GUIDANCE REGARDING 2820 REVALUATION REQUIREMENTS
DURING COVID-i95
4.27.2020
Pursuant to RSA 21-J:3 I, V, and VI, the Department offers the following information to
municipalities regarding scheduled 2020 revaluations. Furthermore, the Department is reporting
on the current progress that municipalities and assessors have made in achieving these statutory
and constitutional requirements. Finally, the Department is clarifying the various options
available to Municipalities and Assessors in completing these revaluations.
i.
New Hampshire Constitution Part II, Article 6 requires communities to perform revatuations at
least as often as every 5 years.
{Valuation and Taxation.{ The public charges of government, or any part
thereof, may be raised by taxation upon polls, estates, and other classes of
property, including franchises and property when passing by will or inheritance;
and there shall be a valuation of the estates within the state taken anew once in
every five years, at least, and as much oftener as the general court shall order.
Furthermore, RSA 75:8-a provides:
75:8-a Five-Year Valuation. - The assessors andor selectmen shall reappraise
all real estate within the municipality so that the assessments are at full and true
value at least as aften as every fifth year...
The importance of regular revaluations is also a cornerstone to the NH Supreme Court’s decision
Sirrell v. State of New Hampshire, 146 N.H. 364 (2001). Proportionality and equity in property
taxation requires that everyone pays taxes based on the value of their property, and town-wide
revaluations reset all properties to market value on a regular basis. Annual equalization
apportions municipalities within a school district, a county and the State on an annual basis but
does not account for fluctuations in value between neighborhoods and property types within a
town created by market demand dynamics. As the Court reasoned in Sirre/l, “Taxes must not
TDD Access’ Rolay NH 1-200-735-2564 LfPape
individuals who need auxiliary aida for effective communication In programs and services of the
Department of Revenue Administration are invited to make thatr naads and preferances known to ihe Department.
