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	Services Assessing Is Responsible For
	Tax Bill Information
	Veterans' Programs
	Exemptions
	How Property Is Assessed
	Appealing an Assessment
	Determination of Value
	Deadline for Filings
	Frequently Asked Questions
	Assessment Forms and Applications
	Disabled Exemption
	Elderly Exemption
	Exemption Programs Summary
	Links
	Board of Tax and Land Appeals
	Department of Revenue Administration
	International Association of Assessing Offficers
	New Hampshire Association of Assessing Officials
	Northeastern Regional Association of Assessing Officers

Office Hours: Monday- Friday 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM & 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM
City Hall, 58 Opera House Square
Claremont, New Hampshire 03743-2677
Telephone: 603-542-7004 Fax: 603-542-7014
propertyvalues@claremontnh.com

GIS Maps

Assessing Data is now available online at www.visionappraisal.com

• ASB Assessing Reference Manual for Taxpayers, Selectmen, and Assessors

Revaluation & Cyclical Information:

• CYCLICAL REVIEW REPORT

• City Map with phases of Cyclical Review

   

Welcome to the Assessing Department. The Assessor's primary responsibility is to find the fair market value of your property, so that you may pay only your fair share of the taxes. The Assessing Department also keeps track of ownership changes, maintains maps of parcel boundaries, keeps descriptions of buildings and property characteristics up to date, keeps track of individuals and properties eligible for exemptions and other forms of property tax relief, and, most important, analyzes trends in sales prices, construction costs, and rents to estimate the value of all assessable property.

The 2010 tax rate is $31.34 per $1000.00 assessed value of property.

General Information

The Assessing Department is responsible for the following services:

• Appraise and assess all real estate located in the city.
• Defend the assessed values at the local level and before Board of Tax and Land Appeals & Superior Court.
• Maintain Property Record Cards.
• Administer the Current Use Program.
• Administer all Tax Exemption/Credit Programs.
• Administer the Timber and Gravel Tax Programs.
• Provide public relations for the programs of the Assessment Department.
• Maintain standards of professional practice through educational programs and periodic recertification by state and national organizations.
• Provide reports to tax payers and local real estate professionals, etc.
• Provide media records for all pubic requests.
• Update all maps.

Tax Bills

• Assessments are based on property as existing on April 1st.
• The first tax bill uses half of the prior year's tax rate applied to the April 1st assessment.
• This tax bill is typically mailed in June.
• The second tax bill rate is set in the fall to cover the budgets that had been approved by City Council, School, County and State.
• This tax bill is typically mailed in November.
• Tax bills are due within 30 days of their mailing.

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Veterans' Programs

Tax Credit (RSA 72:28)

• Deadline to apply: April 15th of the current year.
• Must be a resident or spouse or surviving spouse of NH for 1 year preceeding April 1.
• Must have a minimum 90 days active duty service in a qualifying war or armed conflict and be honorably discharged or separated.

1. Qualifying war or armed conflict:
   • "World War I'' between April 6, 1917 and November 11, 1918, extended to April 1, 1920 for service in Russia; provided that military or naval service on or after November 12, 1918 and before July 2, 1921, where there was prior service between April 6, 1917 and November 11, 1918 shall be considered as World War I service;
   • "World War II'' between December 7, 1941 and December 31, 1946;
   • "Korean Conflict'' between June 25, 1950 and January 31, 1955;
   • "Vietnam Conflict'' between December 22, 1961 and May 7, 1975;
   • "Vietnam Conflict'' between July 1, 1958 and December 22, 1961, if the resident earned the Vietnam service medal or the armed forces expeditionary medal;
   • "Persian Gulf War'' between August 2, 1990 and the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential proclamation or by law; and
   • Any other war or armed conflict that has occurred since May 8, 1975, and in which the resident earned an armed forces expeditionary medal or theater of operations service medal.
2. The veterans' tax credit shall be $125 subtracted each year from the property tax on his residential property. However, the surviving spouse of a resident who suffered a service-connected death may have the sum subtracted from the property tax on any real property in the same municipality where the surviving spouse is a resident.

Proration of Tax Credit RSA 72:30
If any entitled person or persons shall own a fractional interest in residential real estate each such entitled person shall be granted a tax credit in proportion to his interest therein with other persons so entitled, but in no case shall the total tax credit exceed the tax credit allowed under RSA 72:28 except as provided in RSA 72:31.

Husband and Wife RSA 72:31
A husband and wife, each qualifying for a tax credit, shall be granted a tax credit upon their residential real estate as provided under RSA 72:28.

Veterans of Allied Forces RSA 72:32
Any person otherwise entitled under the provisions of RSA 72:28, 30 and 31 who being a citizen of the United States, or being a resident of New Hampshire, at the time of his entry therein, served on active duty in the armed forces of any of the governments associated with the United States in the wars, conflicts or armed conflicts set forth in RSA 72:28 shall be entitled to the tax credit authorized by RSA 72:28.

Tax Credit for Service-Connected Total Disability RSA 72:35

1. Any person who has been honorably discharged or an officer honorably separated from the military service of the United States and who has a total and permanent service-connected disability, or who is a double amputee or paraplegic because of a service-connected injury, or the surviving spouse of such a person, shall receive a yearly tax credit in the amount of $1,400 of property taxes on his residential property.
2. The tax credit in paragraph 1. May be applied only to property which is occupied as the principal place of abode by the disabled person or the surviving spouse. The tax credit may be applied to any land or buildings appurtenant to the residence or to manufactured housing if that is the principal place of abode.
3. Any person applying for the tax credit granted in paragraph 1. Shall furnish sufficient proof to the assessors or selectmen that the disability on which the tax credit is based is service-connected. The tax credit shall be divided evenly among the number of tax payments required annually by the town or city so that a portion of the tax credit shall apply to each tax payment to be made.

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Exemptions

• Exemption amount: $15,000 off the assessed value.
• Deadline to apply: April 15th of the current year.
• Must be legally blind as determined by the Blind Services Department of the Vocational Rehabilitation Division of the Education Department.
• Must own and occupy the residence.

• Deadline to apply: April 15th of the current year.
• Must be 65 years of age on or before April 1st, and resident of NH for the last 5 consecutive years.
• INCOME limit of $19,600 if single, $26,600 if married (including Social Security).
• ASSETS not in excess of $50,000 excluding the value of residential real estate up to 2 acres.

  Exemption amount:

  • 65-74 years of age: $30,000
  • 75-79 years of age: $50,000
  • 80+ years of age: $77,000

• Must be owner and resident of property on or before April 1st of the year of application.
• Improvements must assist a physically handicapped person, who also resides on such real estate, to propel himself.

• Deadline to apply: April 15th of the current year.
• Any person who is eligible under Title II or Title XVI of the Federal Social Security Act for benefits to the disabled (must provide letter from Social Security Administration stating eligibility).
• Must be a NH resident for at least five years.
• Must have owned the residence individually or jointly, or if residence is owned by spouse, they must have been married for at least five years.
• Yearly Net Income: Married $26,600, single $19,600 (including Social Security).
• Asset Limitation: $35,000 (excluding the value of the residence and accepted lot).
• Must reside at the property for which exemption is applied.
• Benefit: $19,250 reduction in assessed value.

• Deadline to apply: March 1st following the date of notice of tax.
• Must be at least 65 years old or eligible under Title II or Title XVI of the Social Security Act for benefits for the disabled.
• Must have owned the homestead for at least 5 years.
• Must be living in the home.
• Must have mortgage holder's (if any) approval.
• Must apply each year.

Residential Exemption (RSA 75:11):

• Must be owner occupied single family residence, used for no other purpose.
• Deadline to apply: April 15th each year.

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How Your Property is Assessed

A. What is market value?
Finding the market value of your property involves discovering the price most people would pay for it in its present condition. The assessor has to find what the value would be for every property, no matter how big or how small. This process is also done each year on new and improved properties, because the market value of almost everything changes from one year to the next - as we all know.

B. How is property appraised?
To find the value of any piece of property the assessor must first know what properties similar to it are selling for, what it would cost today to replace it, how much it takes to operate and keep it in repair, what rent it may earn.

• Sales Comparison Approach
  The first method compares your property to others that have sold recently. These prices, however, must be analyzed very carefully to get the true picture. One property may have sold for more than it was really worth while another may have sold for less money than it was actually worth. When using the sales comparison approach size, quality, condition, location, and time of sale are important factors to consider.
• Cost Approach
  A second way to value your property is based on how much money it would take, at current material and labor costs, to replace your property with one similar. If your property is not new, the assessor must also determine how much it has depreciated. In addition, the assessor must estimate how much a lot like yours would be worth if vacant.
• Income Approach
  The third way is to evaluate how much income your property would produce if it were rented as an apartment house, a store, or a factory. The assessor must consider operating expenses, taxes, insurance, maintenance costs, and the return most people would expect on your kind of property.

D. Assessed value & the tax rate.
The assessor's office has nothing to do with the total amount of taxes collected. The amount of taxes you pay is determined by a TAX RATE applied to your property's ASSESSED VALUE. The tax rate is determined by all the taxing agencies, town, county and school district.

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Appealing Your Assessment

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What Determines Value

How Assessors Value Property:

• The first step in valuation is data collection. The assessor's office collects quantities of information about each property in the jurisdiction. The information is recorded on a property record form, which may be reviewed for accuracy by the taxpayer.
• The assessor's office also collects sales data and data on social, economic, and environmental factors affecting property value, for example, employment, population and income patterns, interest rates, construction costs, regional location factors (such as access to parks, churches, schools, and public transportation), zoning, and rent control. Complete and accurate maps are essential to the assessor's office. Many jurisdictions now have computerized geographic information systems that are used by many branches of government. These systems integrate ownership records with information about zoning, sewage systems, land use, soil types, communication networks, geologic structure, and a host of other data.

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Deadlines for Various Filings

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