Our Mission

The Assessing Department provides the City of Lawrence with fiscal stability by ensuring the City’s real estate and personal property is promptly, fairly, and equitably valued and classified. The Assessing Department determines fair market value of all property for the purpose of taxation. Additionally, the Department administers motor vehicle excise taxes in a fair and efficient manner. The Department also administers the statutory exemption program for eligible taxpayers in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws.

The Assessors’ Office also reviews deed recordings for Lawrence as provided by the Northern Essex Registry of Deeds, looking for ownership and other changes, subdivisions, mergers, etc., and updates city records accordingly. The Assessors’ Office also reviews all properties for which a building permit has been issued by the Inspectional Services Department, to determine what changes or additions have been made. The Assessors’ then updates the property’s valuation accordingly.

Valuations

Real estate and personal property are valued as of January 1st of the calendar year for the Fiscal Year which runs from July 1st to June 30th of the following year.

Assessment Data

The City of Lawrence now has its property assessment data online for the public to access. You can access that data via Assessors Online Database For Lawrence, MA.

The City’s Assessors Office partnered with Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (MVPC) and launched a comprehensive parcel update using the latest digital mapping technology. The Assessors Office worked with the City’s planning personnel to provide the parcel and assessment data to support the City’s MIMAP (Municipal Information Mapping Access Program). MIMAP is a web-based GIS application hosted by MVPC that gives access to all of the publicly available GIS and assessment data for the City.