Opening tax bills his fall, Gorham property owners will see a 29 percent hike in their valuations, and a likely tax hike of about 7 percent.

The town’s assessing department is upping property values equally, across the board, to comply with state law.

“We’re not doing a revaluation,” Mike D’Arcangelo, Gorham’s tax assessor, stressed this week, calling the rise a “tax valuation adjustment.”

For example, a property in Gorham with a valuation of $100,000 will be upped to $129,000 under the valuation adjustment. But the adjustment will not be the cause of the tax increase, according to D’Arcangelo. That hike is due to a higher budget.

D’Arcangelo said the state requires towns to assess property values within 70 percent of market value. He said Gorham’s values have dipped below the 70 percent threshold since the most recent revaluation in Gorham in 2001.

D’Arcangelo said in a statement that sales data indicated that values of all types of properties in Gorham have risen by similar amounts. He said that the real estate values could be adjusted by an equal percentage to comply with the state law. He said the adjustment avoids a costly revaluation.

He said the town had a quote from a company 18 months ago of $430,000 for a full revaluation. It would include measuring buildings and viewing the interiors of homes.

The town’s tax rate of how much property owners pay per $1,000 of valuation would also be adjusted along with valuations.

“All property tax values will be increased by the same percentage and the mil rate will be lowered,” he said about the adjustment.

The town’s total budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 has risen to $40.4 million, a 6.7 percent increase over the previous year. The municipal budget amounted to $11.7 million and the school budget, $28.7 million.

D’Arcangelo said the tax rate for the next tax bill due Nov. 15 hasn’t been set yet, but property owners would likely see a tax increase of about 7 percent.

The new bill will be mailed to property owners in September.