Assessed value

Assessed value is the figure property tax is actually computed against: the Department of Finance's market value converted under the rules of the property's tax class — each class carrying its own assessment ratio and its own smoothing protections, from the caps that limit small-home increases to the multi-year phase-ins of larger properties. Exemptions then reduce the taxable portion further.

The layered machinery means assessed values move differently from market values by design: they lag, they smooth, and they diverge across classes and neighborhoods. Reading a building's assessment history rewards understanding which mechanism produced each move — a rising assessment may reflect the market years ago, a benefit expiring, or a phase-in still catching up.