Assessing

New Hampshire’s assessing standards call for an update of assessing data and property values every five years. A NH approved methodology and State certification helps each town contribute its fair, equitable and proportional share of the statewide property tax and education funding. The NH Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) oversees this process. Unity has established a program of inspecting any properties that were sold during the previous year, as well as verifying any building permits or other reported changes to properties. Every fifth year the Town of Unity will perform an assessment of all parcels in town. This allows for a regular adjustment of property assessments and helps to prevent any one category of property from being either over or under assessed.

The official New Hampshire assessing reference manual, Understanding NH Property Taxes, is available to help you understand assessing and property taxes in NH.

Assessing Maps and Cards

Property maps are for tax assessment purposes only and are not intended as a survey reference.

The Avitar document, Understanding Your Property Record Card, is available to help you understand your Avitar assessment card.

Call (603) 543-3102 or visit the Assessing Office at the Town Office, 13 Center Road, Unity – Mondays 1 p.m. – 4 p.m., Tuesdays 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. or Wednesdays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. A staff member can answer your questions or refer you to the proper authority.

Any disagreement with the assessed valuation does not stop the collection of taxes. Taxes must be paid, as assessed regardless, in order to avoid interest charges that will begin to accrue after the due date. Based on a timely, completed appeal, if an abatement is granted, a refund of any overpayment shall occur.

To qualify for current use, your property must be ten (10) acres of basically untouched land. The parcel shall be forested, fields or unproductive. Any building, driveways or other improvements (campers, etc.) do not qualify for current use. The clearing of land in current use will cause it to come out of current usage and incur a change of usage tax. Forested land may be logged but the stumps must remain. If the property is stumped after logging – this is a change of use. You may remove a portion of a large parcel from current and retain current use on the rest of the property as long as the remaining piece is still over current use. The portion removed will be taxed as change of use.

Finding the market value of your property involves discovering the price most people would be willing to pay for it in its present condition. This value drives any re-assessments of property. If your property is re-assessed, either for the 5-year assessment or due to a sale or building permit, the value of your property assessment may move either up or down depending upon the fair market value of similar town property sales records.

No. The town does not intercede between two purchasing agents to come up with prorated billing. That is the job of land transaction lawyers. In a private sale with no lawyers, the two parties must agree upon their own arrangements. From the town’s point of view, the entirety of the bill is due from the holder of the deed. Any other arrangements do not involve the town offices. Our suggestion is always to seek legal counsel.

Following State Statute RSA 74:1, all real estate is assessed at how the property stood on April 1st of the tax year. The Town of Unity operates on a fiscal year from January 1st to December 31st. The tax year, however, is from April 1st to March 31st of the following year. This can be confusing. The budget that is raised at the town meeting in March runs the town for the year that has already started on January 1st. The tax rate will be set in the October to November range, to raise the money for a year that has nearly passed. The town does semi-annual tax billing. This means in May/June you are billed for only an estimated half of your bill for the year using current assessment x ½ of last year’s rate. The bill is usually due near July 1st. The actual tax rate, however, won’t be set until October or November. Now, the full year taxes will have been computed and the estimated first half bill is subtracted. This will leave the balance, which is due in the December/January time range. A taxpayer who does not receive a tax bill should inquire at the tax office.

Yes, they must be filed in a timely fashion to avoid doomage. (Doomage is two times what the tax would have been if the report had been timely filed and truly reported.)

DRA Forms and Information for Gravel
DRA Forms and Information for Timber