Watertown won't do complete revaluation this year, city assessor says

The Watertown Assessment Department will not perform a complete revaluation of the city in the upcoming year.

Assessor Brian S. Phelps said performing the revaluation would not be advantageous because of a slumping housing market and instabilities in the commercial market.

The state has also proposed cutting aid that municipalities receive when performing revaluations, meaning the city would have to pick up nearly the entire tab for the project, the assessor told the City Council last night.

The city had planned to have Assessment Department employees inspect every property within the city this year. The revaluation was proposed because inequities in the true market value of commercial and residential properties had arisen since 2007 – when the city opted out of the state's assessment program. The new assessments would have been effective on the 2011 tax rolls.