More than 8,000 property owners in Baltimore received a surprise notice in the mail this week — a second letter that revised their property's valuation from the state's Department of Assessments and Taxation.
About half saw their assessments rise, while fewer fell.
The agency first sent out assessments to owners of 61,568 city properties at the end of December. The last time the state evaluated this set of properties — which includes the waterfront neighborhoods and Southwest Baltimore — was in 2011, when values were still depressed by the housing crash.
A review before the mailing revealed problems with some assessments, but it was too late to fix the errors, said Owen C. Charles, the department's acting director. The department sent the revisions, as well as notices to buyers who purchased properties since the end of December, on Jan. 30.
The agency sent 23,972 supplemental notices statewide, including 8,121 to city property owners. Of those, 4,089 contained news that a property's value increased, while 3,610 informed the owners of decreases, according to the department. There was no change for 422 properties.
The assessments caused consternation, especially in Federal Hill and Locust Point. Those neighborhoods accounted for 3,417 of the properties that saw increases, Charles said. Owners have 30 days to appeal the Jan. 30 assessments.
Jim Gunsiorowski, a real estate agent who lives in Locust Point, said he was surprised to see the value of his home increase by $50,000, even though he doesn't plan to contest the new number.
"This is unusual to me," he said. "They set themselves up for confusion."
Charles said the department sends some revisions every year. On average, 3,200 supplemental notices are mailed to city property owners annually, he said.
Statewide, property values rose 10.8 percent in 2014, including 18.6 percent for commercial properties and 8.1 percent for residences, according to the Dec. 26 mailings.