Not only will Hooksett taxpayers be getting their tax bills in the mail a bit late, likely in November, according to Town Administrator David Jodoin, they’re also getting a notification prior to the tax rate setting of the new value of their homes and businesses.

The New Hampshire Department of Revenue requires towns to conduct a revaluation of all their commercial, industrial and residential property every five years, and this year, it’s Hooksett’s turn.

As the town’s assessing department wraps up its research and data collection, the setting of the tax rate will be a little later this year than usual, Jodoin said.

The final tax rate will likely not be set until late fall, Jodoin said.

The Town Council is hosting an informational meeting for Hooksett taxpayers on Wednesday, Oct. 15, in their chambers at the Town Hall at 6 p.m.

David Hynes of the DRA will give a presentation and facilitate discussion on the revaluation and how it affects individual property values and taxes.

Revaluations take place in all New Hampshire towns at least every five years. The goal of a revaluation is to assess values of property so that those values are as close to the market value of the property as possible – ideally at 100 percent. After all the information is collected, it is sent to the DRA, which calculates that percentage.

Currently, said contracted assessor Todd Haywood, the town’s property is being assessed and taxed at 78 percent.

While revaluations typically raise the value of a home (and therefore, the amount of taxes that have to be paid on it), they also increase the total value of all the property in town, which could result in less taxation per thousand of assessed value.

Haywood said he and the town’s assessment team have been assessing one-fifth of the town’s property each year since the last revaluation in 2003, measuring homes and businesses, analyzing sales and poring over town records to check for building permits for improvements.

“We want to verify that the physical data you have on file was correct,” Haywood said.

Any improvements made before April 1, 2008, will go on this year’s tax bill. Anything after that will be factored into the 2009 tax bills.

Currently, Haywood said, there are a little over 500 commercial/ industrial properties in Hooksett in addition to 5,500 residential properties. The town’s total value will be used in the setting of the tax rate, which is why the assessment needs to be completed first.

Businesses and homeowners will receive notices in the mail of what their new property assessment value is in the next couple of weeks, ideally before the Oct. 15 informational meeting, Haywood said.

When the DRA sets the tax rate, that 2008 rate will be used in conjunction with individual property taxes to calculate tax bills, which Jodoin said would likely be due around Christmas.