City Manager breaks down new tax rate, 63 cent increase

Rochester City Manager Blaine Cox reports that the Department of Revenue Administration has finalized this year’s tax rate. The tax rate for property taxes to be billed this December has been set at $25.28 per thousand dollars of property value, a $0.63 increase over the prior year. This represents a 2.6 percent increase from the previous $24.65 rate (per thousand dollars of assessed valuation).

The sixty-three-cent increase to the rate is attributed to the combination of multiple factors and does not necessarily mean residents will see a higher property tax bill. The county tax effort increased 10%, the local school portion increased 7.1%, the municipal tax effort increased 1.6% while the state education effort decreased 24.9%. The changes in these tax efforts collectively resulted in a 3.4% increase to the total amount to be raised through taxation. The total net assessed valuation increased by $18,902,277 or 0.7% over the prior year.

The breakdown of Rochester’s tax rate is as follows:

• City: $7.96 (increase of 7 cents from last year)
• Local education: $13.20 (increase of 79 cents)
• State education: $1.37 (decrease of 47 cents)
• County: $2.75 (increase of 24 cents)

The current median assessed value of a single-family home is $211,600 and will receive a tax bill of $5,349. Taxes on an assessment of $211,600 last year resulted in a tax bill of $5,216.

The 2021 median assessment was $211,400 and when equalized at 78.2% represented a fair market value of $270,300. The 2022 assessment equalization rate has not yet been set by the NH Department of Revenue Administration. The estimated 2022 equalization rate is 70.0%, which represents a fair market value of $302,300 for a home with a median assessed value of $211,600.

Final tax bills are being processed and are tentatively scheduled to be mailed on December 16th and due on January 17th.