You will receive your property record in the mail in the coming weeks once the Department of Revenue has certified our local assessed values. Your property record will also be available online for you to review at this time. If you believe the information gathered during the inspection and entered into the property record is inaccurate, we encourage you to contact the Assessor’s Office as soon as possible. You can contact us via phone at 508-799-1098 or by scheduling an appointment.

There are 48,000 parcels of real estate in the City of Worcester. In accordance with Department of Revenue regulations, the City performed a thorough property review and inspection of all 48,000 parcels of real estate - both commercial and residential. City assessors and contracted appraisers inspected and reviewed the property in multiple ways, including through the use of technology as well as physical on-site inspections. Assessors also reviewed permits to capture any property improvements or upgrades.

Valuation is based on "full and fair cash value," the amount a willing and knowledgeable buyer would pay a willing and knowledgeable seller on the open market. The job of the Assessor is to determine the market value of every parcel of property in the City as of January 1.

In practice, there are three universally accepted approaches to determining value: market, income and cost. The Assessor does not create value. Rather, he or she is responsible for discovering and reflecting the changes that are occurring in the marketplace.

An assessor looks at property the same way a potential buyer would look at a property. An assessor considers factors such as location, size, type, quality of construction, condition, number of floors/ levels, number of bedrooms, baths, fireplaces or types of heating systems, to name a few. An assessor also compares properties that have sold in the neighborhood.

Massachusetts law requires the Department of Revenue (DOR) to review local assessed values every three years and to certify that they represent full and fair value. A revaluation is the most equitable way to accomplish this. A revaluation includes a complete review and analysis of existing property records and values in accordance with DOR regulations.