Cranston Conducting Full Property Revaluation

CRANSTON – Feb. 2023 – The City of Cranston has announced that it is in the process of a full property revaluation as required by Rhode Island general law. As a result, taxpayers will receive a new real property assessment upon completion.

R.I. General (RIGL 44-5-11.6), mandates that cities and towns perform a statistical revaluation update every third and sixth year and a full property revaluation every nine years. This is the ninth year for the city, requiring a full city-wide revaluation.

In a statement, Cranston Tax Assessor Ken Mallette explained, “This revaluation is a process meant to distribute taxes evenly and fairly based on more up to date values of what taxpayers own. By no means is this a tax increase nor a means for the city to raise taxes.”

The city is working with revaluation company Vision Appraisal. In the summer of 2023, Cranston homeowners will be receiving a data mailer requesting notice of all changes to properties. This “Interior Data Verification” letter will provide an opportunity to review their interior features and make adjustments to update their property information.

If there are significant changes, city and Vision Appraisal employees may contact property owners to conduct an in person visit to assess property changes. It is important to note that no valuation decisions are made at the time of inspection.

The City will also be conducting in-person visits to inspect all properties that have been sold, along with those properties whose owners have pulled a building permit within the last year.

Since all current valuations were based on sales as of 12/31/2020, changes since that date have made assessments not reflective of the current real estate market. The rise and fall of real estate values make certain properties more valuable or less valuable in relation to each other. Due to these reasons, the state of Rhode Island decided upon a three-year schedule for property revaluations.

The full property revaluation is scheduled for completion as of 12/31/23. Property owners can expect to receive a new assessment notice in February or March of 2024. They will then have an opportunity to appeal changes and have a hearing on their new assessment. The new assessment notice will include information regarding an informal hearing process. If the taxpayer is not satisfied with the results of the informal hearing process, they may make use of a formal appeal process regarding their new values. That process will begin after taxpayers receive their tax bills in July of 2024.

For any questions regarding this process, please call the city of Cranston Assessor’s Office at 401-780-3181. More information on taxpayer revaluation can be found at https://gis.vgsi.com/cranstonri/ and http://www.vgsi.com/taxpayer-revaluation-information/.