Susan Ruggieri is still reeling after the recent town-wide revaluation resulted in a 35 percent increase to her home’s assessment.

The Rose Lane resident said her home’s previous assessment was for $446,000, so when she opened the envelope containing this year’s assessment notice she was surprised, actually very surprised, to see the figure — officials from the town-contracted firm Northeast Reval had assessed her home’s value at $599,000.

“I was just shocked,” Ms. Ruggieri said. “I just can’t believe the difference in the assessment.

“I was stunned. I was stunned. I just couldn’t believe the price increase.”

The assessment for 20 Rose Lane was, in fact, a bit higher than recent assessments for most other properties in Barrington. The town’s tax assessor, Ken Mallette, would not offer an average figure for assessment increases, but said that the Barrington property tax base increased by about 14 percent during the recent revaluation.

Ms. Ruggieri said that while her home has a beautiful water view, the structure itself is rife with problems. She said the home’s decks are rotted and need to be replaced, and there’s a skylight that leaks whenever it rains. She also questioned whether the Northeast Reval official took a close enough look through the home’s interior when he conducted his inspection months ago.

She said that while her home’s kitchen was updated recently, the floors were done “very cheaply.”

“He didn’t go upstairs,” she added.

“This house is not in mint condition.”

Ms. Ruggieri said she checked the assessments for some of the homes in her neighborhood and saw that they increased $20,000 or $30,000. But she could not find another home nearby that witnessed an increase of more than $100,000. She also said her yard abuts another property that is filled with junk.

“This man’s yard is a dump. A true, true dump. It abuts my property,” she said.

Ms. Ruggieri said she had her home appraised in July 2019; the company RI Appraisal put the home’s value at $525,000.

The town’s tax assessor said he understands that some residents might want to appeal their assessments, but after his review of the town wide revaluation he feels comfortable with the work completed by Northeast Reval. He said he recently completed a revaluation report for the town council.

“Nothing at this point in time that I’ve seen would make me have concerns,” Mr. Mallette said.

The assessor said about 142 people have requested meetings with officials from Northeast Reval. That is the initial step property owners can take if they want to appeal their assessments. People can also later request appeals with the tax assessor.

“If they still feel aggrieved, they have the right to appeal to the assessment board of review,” Mr. Mallette said.

And if the property owners are still not happy, they can file in Rhode Island Superior Court.

Mr. Mallette said he looks at the 5 percent mark with appeals as an indicator of whether there may have been an issue with the revaluation.

“Anything less than 5 percent is good,” he said, adding that he has no concerns about Barrington’s reval.

Mr. Mallette said a strong seller’s market played a factor in the recent property value increases. He said people may not be watching the market as closely as they think, and could be a bit surprised when they see what the prices are like for homes that sold in their neighborhood.

“The market’s been so crazy,” Mr. Mallette said, adding that many homes are selling well above list prices and buyers are often locked in bidding wars.

The assessor said Northeast Reval’s goal was to accurately assess the fair market values for homes, as of Dec. 31, 2020.

“And as of December 31, 2020, the market was going crazy,” he said. “It’s crazy. The market … it almost makes we worried about another bubble."

Mr. Mallette said he has not seen anything indicating that there have been neighborhood issues with the recent revaluation, which would signal a possible problem. He said residents should consider two things when reviewing their assessments: “Is the market value truly reflected, and are you being treated fairly?”

Resident appeals

Shortly after she received her assessment notice, Ms. Ruggieri called and requested an informal appeal hearing with Northeast Reval. On Friday, she spoke over the phone with an official from the company, John Hocking. She said Mr. Hocking told her that her home’s value may have increased if the inspector noticed something that previous inspections failed to reveal. She also said that upgrades to her home had been listed at $100,000.

“The condition of my house was upgraded from ‘average’ to ‘very good’ according to Mr. Hocking,” said Ms. Ruggieri. “I said that the ‘quality of construction’ and ‘condition’ should be taken into consideration.”

She later added that when Mr. Hocking asked her what she felt the condition of her home was, she replied: “Average.”