To the Editor:

In 2010, a real estate revaluation was done in Princeton that generated concern and complaints on multiple grounds. It was notable (though not widely known) that the consequent tax increases fell most heavily on modest properties. The valuations were increased by startling amounts. On our house, the number was 37.5 percent, but that pales by comparison to other small, older properties which had increases over 50 percent. To top this, many big and expensive properties were revalued downward by substantial amounts. The official explanation for this was that the recession had depressed mega-scale house pricing. (If you attend the real estate ads in Town Topics, this is hardly credible, and it certainly isn’t fair by any reasonable standard.)

We filed an appeal in 2010, and won a partial reduction in our assessment at that time. But that, it turns out, was temporary. We now have a letter from the Office of the Tax Assessor saying “the freeze act ‘appeal’ has expired” (sic) so our assessment will be increased.* The explanation is that because small houses in our neighborhood are being sold to developers who want to build big houses (so big they must get variance approvals because the lot is too small) prices for small houses are up. The owners are hard put to resist the money. Those of us who want to stay thus have to pay higher taxes while people with questionable taste rebuild our neighborhoods. Our officials, it seems, do grant those variances, and they do raise taxes on small homes. But not the big ones — they are still “depressed.”

Roger Nelson

Valley Road

*About 100 homes are getting this re-revaluation, out of nearly 9000 homes in Princeton, raising questions about how they were selected.