John Marinatto had a question of Tyler Technologies Friday afternoon. He wanted to know why the value of the home his mother bought in 1960 went up $3,000 when the properties on either side of him went down $23,400 and $21,400 in the citywide revaluation as of December 31, 2015.

Marinatto’s 850-square-foot home is at 380 Shawomet Ave. overlooking the bay. He uses it as a summer home, but now with its value increasing and the prospect of higher taxes, he is wondering whether he can afford to keep it. He had considered making major renovations to the property so he could live there year-round.

He was shocked by what he discovered after retaining an architect to look at the house. As the house is in Flood Zone V as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said, he was told he couldn’t get flood insurance unless he tore down the house and built a new one, raised above the flood level, that would meet code.

Marinatto already knows about flood insurance and where rates are headed. He thinks it’s a good argument for lowering the value of the family house. Three years ago, Marinatto was paying $850 for flood insurance. Last year, the bill was $3,000.

As the insurance is a federal program, Marinatto called Sen. Jack Reed for an explanation. He said the premiums would only get higher and he could expect an ongoing increase of 40 percent a year. Marinatto considered taking out a home equity loan and paying off his mortgage and self-insuring. He was informed he would need flood insurance to get the loan.

Marinatto wasn’t alone.

Rep. Joseph Shekarchi accompanied him to his informational meeting with appraisers. Shekarchi also owns a house on Shawomet Avenue in Conimicut. It’s his father’s house, and that value dropped by $22,400 to $292,700. That’s not enough, in Shekarchi’s opinion. Shekarchi said flood insurance became so pricey that he cancelled the policy and decided to risk it.

Marinatto has seen what it’s done to the sale of properties.

“Houses are on the market for months because of flood insurance,” he said. He speculates only people who can afford to self-finance the purchase buy the houses.

Disparity in values between similar properties was what brought David and Deb Proulx to City Hall’s Council Chambers. Their son Aidan accompanied them. They bought a house in Cowesett Green six years ago for $375,000. It was last valued by the city at $363,400, but in the current revaluation it jumped to $400,900.

“There’s no sense or reason…we didn’t do anything to it,” said Deb.

So they checked the values in the neighborhood to discover some values had increased, but not as much as theirs, and a few had decreased. They even found a property where they know renovations were made in the last couple of years where the value went down. The Proulxes were armed with the values of neighboring homes and outlined their case to an appraiser.

Like others who have scheduled reviews, they were handed a document showing they had had a review and told they would be getting a notice in the mail as to the outcome of their appeal.

So far, said City Assessor Christopher Celeste, hearings are being scheduled and held according to plan. He couldn’t provide numbers on hearings held to date or how many have been scheduled.

“There’s not a mob with pitchforks,” he said.

Celeste said a summary of hearings and adjustments would be available at the conclusion of the process at the end of April. It’s at that point that people who have had hearings will learn the outcome of their appeals, he said.

Also, he expects some people will receive letters informing them of a change in valuation even though they didn’t request a hearing.

He said valuations are based on “tables,” and as an example cited how after reviewing several appeals concerning raised ranches in a particular neighborhood, Tyler could conclude that all the valuations on similar houses in that neighborhood should change.

As another example of where property owners could see a change in values, he said a property could be on the “cusp” of two different neighborhoods, thereby reflective of a different value from what it was originally given.

Celeste is faced with a deadline, as the city needs to know the tax roll in order to set the tax rate as it completes the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

On a citywide basis, before any revisions resulting from hearings, the collective value of residential property increased from $5.7 billion to $6.1 billion, an increase of 7 percent. Commercial property valuations went from $2.19 billion to $2.27 billion for an overall increase of 3.8 percent.