Guam - It was yesterday when the Governor's Office announced that a contract had been awarded to perform a mass revaluation and reappraisal of all real property on Guam - the first in more than 20 years.

Rev & Tax director John Camacho says the current collections on real property taxes does not reflect true property values. "They're tasked now to do the revaluation whatever it takes they're going to use a lot of methodology and one of the things we did upgrade as part of this project...we did a pictometry where they actually took pictures of all the houses on the island commercial, hotels, so we have access to those things," he said.

The real property taxes from this project will go toward the island's public schools through the Territorial Education Facilities Fund. The contract to cornerstone valuation Guam is for a $2.5 million project that is expected to completed by March of next year. A preliminary notice informing the community of the values and taxes is expected by September 1 but Camacho says current estimates show an increase in property values between 20 to 30 percent.