They are all over the place in terms of percentage of decreases in valuation.  I have seen them drop less than 10% to over 30% in value.  Then I  am hearing how happy Amherst home owners are that the values have dropped because they think the tax bills are going down.

Well most Amherst NH real estate agents understand that a drop in the value of the Amherst NH property, doesn't mean the tax bill is going down.   The town tax rate will increase so the town can collect the same amount of money to pay their bills.

So the tax rate in Amherst NH in 2010 was$20.48 per $1000, the new bill for 2011 is $25.37.  The expectation is that most everyone's bill would go up.  I have heard of a couple that have decreased, but most are up up up.

I expect we will see the same thing in other towns as the mill rate is set for 2011.

Understanding the NH real estate property tax cyle :  In the State of New Hampshire, NH real estate taxes are assessed by the local town assessing office.

The annual tax is based on a tax year from April 1 through March 31, with tax bills generated usually in June and December.

The June bill covers the period Apirl 1 through September 30.

The December bill covers the period October 1 through March 31