People frequently ask about remodeling as it relates to property-tax assessments — some believing that only increasing the footprint of a house causes a reassessment, while others think that the simplest remodeling change, such as swapping out a cabinet, would trigger the process. Since this covers a wide spectrum of remodeling activity, what would actually initiate a reassessment?
For help with this question, I turned to Greg Aragon, a building designer from our office.
The first point he emphasized is that remodels and additions do not necessarily lead to a reassessment of the entire house. Any area of a house not being modified will keep the existing tax base. If a 200-square-foot kitchen remodel triggers a reassessment, only the 200 square feet being remodeled would be subject to a new rate.