Jeanette Albers, 78, said she is “too damn old” to fight the city on her $2,466 tax bill – a 171 percent increase – that she expected to come in July.

Her friend had told her not to bother going to an appointment with Westbrook’s assessing firm that recently completed the first city-wide revaluation since 1992. Albers’ friend said her meeting was a waste of time.

But it’s a good thing Albers went. She just got her assessment cut in half.

Wednesday afternoon, Albers showed up at Westbrook City Hall for her appointment to find out if Vision Appraisal Technology had made a mistake. The company was assessing her at $176,000 for the entirety of the duplex she lives in at 15 Brown St. But Albers only owns half the building. So what looked to be a $1,500 jump in Albers’ tax bill from this year to the next turned out to be an increase of a couple hundred dollars.

City homeowners like Albers recently received the results of Westbrook’s first full property revaluation since 1992. An American Journal analysis of the results revealed that of the nearly 6,100 properties listed in Westbrook, including residences, commercial buildings and land, 5,423 will see an increase of at least 1 percent, and 608 will see a decrease in their tax bill of at least 1 percent.

Approximately 3,000 properties will have tax bill increases between 1 and 25 percent, 1,500 properties between 26 and 50 percent and 294 properties between 51 and 100 percent. More than 430 properties will see tax increases of more than 100 percent, although many of these higher increases reflect improvements made on the properties.

In interviews, many residents used the word “shocked” to describe their reaction to the tax increase notices sent out last week. But residents are advised to check their numbers carefully, and, like Albers, make an appointment for a hearing with the assessing firm.

Albers has lived and worked in Westbrook her whole life. For most of that time – more than half a century – she has lived in the same duplex on Brown Street. On a fixed income of $1,200 a month, the tax notice Albers received last week was a “shock.”

She said she thought the notice she received in the mail explaining the expected tax increase was a joke.

“I was relieved, I felt much better. A $1,200 tax bill I can do,” she said after her visit to the company that made the assessment error. “I couldn’t believe that a house on Brown Street was worth $360,000.”

Robin Dahms, 101 East Valentine St., said her expected 115 percent tax increase – from just under $2,000 to just over $4,200 – was due in large part to tearing down a 100-year-old home and rebuilding. Nonetheless, she compared her valuation to other homes on the street and in other neighborhoods, and will be heading to city hall for a meeting with the assessing company.

“I really wonder how they did the evaluating,” Dahms said, noting her home was valued on an equal level with nicer and newer neighborhoods, and valued higher than other nearby homes with larger, newer buildings and larger parcels of land. She said she had recently been appraised by a bank and fully expected her taxes to go up, but the city’s revaluation clocked her in at around $40,000 more than what the bank did.

“For them to be that far off from the bank appraisal is a problem,” Dahms said.

Sara Deane’s taxes are expected to go up 87 percent, and she is going in for a meeting with the assessing company, as well. She said she thought the valuation of her home at 182 Cumberland St., across the street from the Sappi mill, was about $20,000 more than what it should be. She had an appraisal done just a couple years ago.

“I can probably pay it, but I don’t agree,” Deane said. “Will I not pay my taxes? No. Is it money I didn’t plan on? Yes.”

Some people don’t seem to be terribly upset with the valuation, as unhappy as they may be about having to give more money to the government. Beverly Barton, whose taxes on her home at 127 Brown St. were expected to go up 30 percent, is happy with the outcome of a meeting with the assessing company.

“We’ve already been down (to city hall),” said Barton. “We had an appointment, and the man was very nice.”

Barton, too, said she is expecting a new tax increase notice to come in the mail that is lower than the one she initially received. Still, she said, she and her husband would be watching their budget.

Jeanette Albers owns the right half of this duplex at 15 Brown Street. This year her home is valued at $48,900, but after Westbrook’s revaluation it will be on the books as $176,000 next year. Albers’ taxes are expected to jump over $1,500; a hefty sum for a 78-year-old on a fixed income.Jeanette Albers received notice of an expected 171 percent increase in her property tax bill next year, after Westbrook’s recent revaluation. She explained that she has had to spend over $10,000 over the winter just to maintain the house, which she has lived in for more than 56 years, and she doesn’t know what she is going to do in order to face her new $2,500 tax bill while she earns $1,200 a month on a fixed social security income.Jeanette Albers looks over the notice she received that valued her half of a duplex at $176,000, up more than $127,000. On her lap is Buck care after Albers’ sister moved into a nursing home. Buck’s need for a haircut costs around $30 every few weeks is a tedious bill, but Albers promised her sister she’d look after the pooch.