New Bath Property Owners - Sales Verification

Are you a new Bath Property Owner? Welcome to Bath!

The Assessor's Office maintains a record of each property within the City. The record contains ownership information, building and land characteristics, purchase price, deed references, and assessed valuation. Tax maps and aerial photographs are also available. The City maintains these records to enable appropriate assessment of property for tax purposes. However, all of these records are open for public inspection, research or review. To review the most recent assessment of your property, please see our Property Record Cards page, or visit our online database. 

In Maine, all property is assessed as of April 1st each year. This means that if you acquire property in Bath after April 1 and before tax bills are sent out (September), the tax bill for your property will be in the name of the person who sold you the property. Each year's tax bill covers the time period from July 1 of one year to June 30 of the following year. If you are a new owner and do not receive a copy of the tax bill, please check the City of Bath website to obtain a copy of the tax bill. Tax bills are posted on our site by mid September, and are due on October 15 (or the nearest business day to October 15).

Verification of the characteristics of property that has sold in Bath is an essential step in determining assessed property values each year. Assessors review sales to determine if they are "arm's length," between a willing buyer and willing seller, with neither party under undue pressure and with the sale unaffected by unusual financial terms. Such sales are then closely reviewed to assist in determining how various property characteristics, such as style, size, neighborhood, or property type, affect the market value of property in Bath. One way we obtain information on properties that have sold is through sales verification surveys, generally sent out at least once a year to the new owners of residential property that has sold in the past year. 

These surveys are an essential part of our review of sold properties each year; feedback from property owners is the best method to determine if a sale reflects an arm's length transaction, and to best understand the features of the property. Your responses also assist us in better understanding the real estate market in Bath.

Thank you for completing and returning a sales verification survey to our office.