Assessor

Assessing Department

The Assessing Department is responsible for accurately determining the value of all Real and Personal Property located within the Town of Littleton for the purpose of taxation. Assessors are obliged to assess all property at its full and fair market value as of January 1st of the calendar year for the Fiscal Year which runs from July 1st to June 30th of the following year.

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) mandates that every city/town fully update its property assessments each fiscal year to reflect the fair market value. The updated property assessments are submitted to the DOR each fiscal year for their review and approval before Littleton's tax rate can be set by the town's Board of Selectmen.

The Assessors are responsible for the maintenance of all Real and Personal property data records.

Other functions of the Assessor's Office include:

Abatements on Real Estate, Personal Property and Motor Vehicle Excise
Chapter Land classification
Personal exemptions
Real Estate Tax Deferrals
Personal Property
3ABC/Charitable Organizations
Income and Expense Forms
Requests for Abutters Lists

See Applications and Forms for more information.

The Board of Assessors meets on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 7:30 am in Room 205 in Town Hall or via Zoom.

Town of Littleton Assessments for Fiscal Year 2023

The Town of Littleton received certification of their Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023) property values from the Department of Revenue's Bureau of Local Assessment on November 15, 2022. This notification is to inform you that these values are now available for review.

FY2023 values are as of January 1, 2022. A statistical analysis of all valid sales transacted during calendar year 2021 was the basis for the revaluation of single-family homes and condominiums. A two-year period of sales was used for Commercial and Industrial values.

The average single-family residential property assessment for FY2023 is $594,069. An increase of 14.63% from the average single-family assessment of $518,250 for FY2022. The complete residential class increased 14.64% in FY2023 to a value of $2,078,344,849. The previous Fiscal Year 2022 valuation was $1,812,860,459.

Commercial values rose 9.77% to a value of $171,421,264, up from the FY2022 valuation of $156,160,468.

The Industrial class increased 28.99% in FY2023 to a value of $319,887,185 up from the FY2022 valuation of $247,996,225.

Documents

Contact Us

Katherine Miller

Chief Assessor

Phone: 978-540-2410
April Iannacone

Assistant Assessor

Email April Iannacone

Phone: 978-540-2412
Hanna Axon

Assessing Clerk / Field Lister

Email Hanna Axon

Phone: 978-540-2413
Assessor

Email the Assessor

Physical Address
37 Shattuck Street
2nd Floor, Room 206
Littleton, MA 01460

37 Shattuck Street 2nd Floor, Room 206 Littleton MA 01460

Directions

Phone: 978-540-2410

Hours of Operation
Monday
8 am to 6 pm
Tuesday through Thursday
8 am to 4:30 pm
Friday
8 am to 12:30 pm

FAQs

What's an Abatement and How Can I Get One?

An assessment appeal is not a complaint about higher taxes. It is an attempt to prove that your property's estimated market value is either inaccurate or unfair.

You may appeal when you can prove at least one of three things:

Items that affect value are incorrect on your property record. You have one bath, not two. You have a carport, not a garage. Your home has 1,600, not 2,000 square feet.
The estimated market value is too high. You have evidence that similar properties have sold for less than the estimated market value of your property.
The estimated market value of your property is accurate but inequitable because it is higher than the estimated value of similar properties.

Note: You will not win an appeal because you think your taxes are too high. This is an issue you must take up with the officials who determine budgets. However, you may be eligible for tax relief or exemptions. The assessor's office can give you information about exemptions.

Abatement Forms:

Why is my Property Value So High?

Finding the "full and fair cash value" or "market value" of a property involves discovering what similar properties are selling for, what the property would cost today to replace and what financial factors, such as interest rates, may be affecting the real estate market.

Valuation techniques for commercial and industrial properties also include analysis from an investment point of view, since the purchase price the buyer is willing to pay depends in part on the return he expects to receive.

A property's value can change for many reasons. The most obvious is that the property changes. A bedroom, garage, or swimming pool is added, or part of the property is destroyed by flood or fire. The most frequent cause of a change in value is a change in the market. If a town's major industry leaves, property values can collapse. As decaying neighborhoods with good housing stock are discovered by young homebuyers, prices gradually rise, and then may soar as the neighborhood becomes fashionable. A shortage of detached houses in a desirable city neighborhood can send prices to ridiculous levels. In a recession, larger homes may stay on the market for a long time, but more affordable homes are in demand, so their prices rise. In a stable neighborhood, with no extraordinary pressure from the market, inflation may increase property value.

If you believe the estimated value of your property is incorrect, you will want to know:

How the assessor values property
How to gather information about your property and similar properties.
How the appeals process works and what the deadlines are

You also have a responsibility to furnish good information about your property to the assessor.

If assessed values rise, do taxes have to rise? If assessed values fall, do taxes have to fall?

The answer to both is no.

Taxing authorities decide how much money the property tax has to raise each year, say $1 million. Assessors estimate the total assessed value of all taxable property, say $100 million. A tax rate is calculated by dividing the amount of tax to be raised by the total assessed value: $1 million divided by $100 million equals 1%

If your home's assessed value is $100,000, your tax bill will be: 0.01 times $100,000 equals $1,000

If total assessed value doubles to $200 million, and the amount to be raised stays the same, the tax rate will be: $1 million divided by $200 million equals 0.5%

Your taxes, if your home doubles in value, will still be $1,000: 0.005 times $200,000 equals $1,000

If assessed value increases, and the tax rate remains the same, taxes will rise. The taxing authorities are demanding more money, even though they have not changed the rate. 0.01 times $200,000 equals $2,000

The Assessor's office does not control the tax rate.

Who Owns What? or, How do I Verify Ownership?