How often do assessments change?
To ensure compliance with the requirement that municipalities assess property at “full and fair cash value,” the Massachusetts Department of Revenue requires every city and town to undergo a full recertification every three years. Fiscal 2009 was a recertification year for Provincetown as were Fiscal 2006, 2003 and 2000. In the past, during the two interim years between triennial recertifications, the Board of Assessors had the option of doing nothing–as it did in the early 1990’s when property values were fairly stable–or of making interim-year adjustments in attempt to keep assessments at fair market value.. Because the real estate market has been extraordinarily strong in recent years, the Assessors have opted to make interim-year adjustments since Fiscal 1998. Beginning with Fiscal Year 2004, the State Department of Revenue has mandated that communities MUST make interim-year adjustments.
