The Gloucester Board of Supervisors continued its discussion of the county’s property reassessment process during its Wednesday, July 5, meeting in the colonial courthouse.

County Assessor Dan Thomas gave an update on how the housing market had progressed since the last reassessment was completed in 2022.

A highlight of Thomas’s presentation was a list of assessment-to-sales ratios. This data shows the difference between a home’s assessed value and what the property sells for in the marketplace.

The current assessed value for homes in Gloucester was at 90 percent of market value for the month of June. The highest spike in ratios occurred in February, when it hit 97 percent of market value. Thomas said February was an outlier month as the average from April through June was 89 percent.

When the reassessment was initially conducted, many Gloucester residents voiced their concern over the spike in real estate valuations. A belief at the time was that the skyrocketing values were a result of an inflated market. As county assessor, Thomas is required by law to assess the values of property based on the market, regardless of inflation.

The board has been receiving regular updates from Thomas throughout 2023 to track the market to see if its inflated state would come back down and warrant another reassessment in 2024. His presentation showed that trends in the housing market had not seen substantial changes throughout 2023.

“In light of Mr. Thomas’s presentation, I think we need to leave the assessment where it is and not look at reassessment next year,” said board chair Christopher Hutson.

“As I was watching the reports come in monthly that Mr. Thomas and his staff were providing, I was getting that sense,” vice chair Ashley Chriscoe said. “I would like to continue this but maybe just send it quarterly until we see something.”

By a unanimous vote, the board also readopted an emergency ordinance to extend the due date for the first installment of real estate and personal property taxes from June 30 to July 17. The board decided to adopt the emergency ordinance during its June 6 meeting; however, it was done without the ordinance being advertised. The state requires the ordinance change to be advertised, which Gloucester has accomplished since the June 6 meeting.