Why do the Assessors need to come to my home?

The short answer is that per state law, we’re required to make these visits.

Per Mass. General Law Chapter 59, Sect. 39 all municipalities in the Commonwealth are required to
assess all real and personal property at "full and fair cash value." To achieve this, the Department of
Revenue mandates that each municipality do a full data collection at each of its parcels at least once
every ten years. Because of the ten-year repeating cycle, these inspections are referred to as "cyclical
inspections."

Assessing office employees or our contracted employees may have several reasons to visit your
property. Below are a few common reasons:

1.) For your properties cyclical inspection (at least once every ten years)
2.) To inspect any permitted alteration work
3.) To verify property sales

If you find that there are errors with the data your property record card, please call us at (508) 759-0600 ext 1510
to schedule an appointment for a visit.

A Town of Bourne data collector or contracted employee will visit your property between the hours
of 9:00am – 4:00pm, Monday through Friday. They will identify themselves as Assessing office
employees and will have town-approved photo IDs with vehicle descriptions to certify this and the
Bourne Police Department is aware of their presence in your neighborhood.
The data collector or contracted employee will be carrying a copy of the most recent field card for your
property. The entire purpose of the visit is to make certain that all of the data for the interior and
exterior of your property that is listed on that field card is as accurate as possible. In total, the entire
process should rarely take more than 10-15 minutes.

The Board of Assessors and its employees will appreciate your cooperation in providing the representative with
access to your property and the information necessary to undertake this assignment.

If you have any questions regarding this ongoing process, please contact the Assessors’ Office at (508) 759 0600 ext 1331