Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of January 7, 2010 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, January 7, 2010, in Room 208, 2nd floor of City Hall. The meeting was called to order at 8:15 AM by Chair Marylou Blaisdell. Members Present: Marylou Blaisdell Kevin Moriarty Dominic D’Antoni Assessing Staff Present: Angelo Marino Robert Gagne Gary Turgiss Greg Turgiss Douglas Dame Louise Brown Cheryl Walley Minutes of the Meeting: Minutes for the meeting held on December 3rd were approved unanimously. Abatement Requests Presented: A complete listing of all abatements approved/denied is available in Assessor’s Office. Staff Items: Ms. Louise Brown, Supervisor of Assessing Administration, presented the Board with Current Use – Land Use Change Tax Lien Release on four properties which no longer qualify for this special current use assessment, per RSA 79-A. The Board members signed these lien releases. Referencing a recent series of articles in the Nashua Telegraph, Mr. Dominic D’Antoni said he would like to compliment the Assessor’s Office. The article in the Nashua Telegraph dated Sunday, December 27, 2009, states that 28% of those applying for abatements received a reduction in the property’s assessment and 72% did not receive a reduction in their assessed value. This indicates that the system is working and maintaining assessments adequately. Mr. D’Antoni noted that the only municipality that comes close to Nashua’s efficiency in maintaining assessments is the Town of Hudson, according to the statistics published in this edition of the Nashua Telegraph. He said the reporter responsible for the article was uninformed as the article did not communicate this to the reader. Mr. D’Antoni said the abatements presented today are indicative of this level of efficiency. Of the fourteen abatements presented today, ten or 71% got less than a 10% reduction and three received a 10-15% reduction which means that even with the reductions being made, they are so minor that there is no effect on the equity of assessments. Mr. Marino told the Board members he feels the articles were better than the editorial. Things were taken out of context and the editorial did not say what could have been said and facts were omitted that would have allowed the reader to fully understand the process and what we do. He said each abatement was looked at and if there was no reason to proceed, perhaps if the taxpayer did not provide us with the necessary data, then we did not grant an abatement because equity was there. What the editorial or articles did not say was that from July 1 through September 1 there were 153 abatements that were processed after they were deemed 1 of 2 denied. These are some of the reasons we feel the Telegraph was inaccurate or misleading, lacking this fundamental information. Deputy Assessor Robert Gagne said that on the abatements that were deemed denied, one can be assured that the Assessing Department spent more time on those abatements than the taxpayer spent. Each of the abatements was looked at by 2 or more people. Upon intake the abatement was looked at by an administrative staff member to confirm it had the minimum amount of information. Once this was determined and the abatement logged in, it was then looked at again and assigned to an appraiser. The appraiser assigned reviews it and is responsible for recommending either approval or denial. Mr. Kevin Moriarty asked Mr. Marino if the Assessing Department in its budget requests, ever includes additional staff for the purpose of updating data. Mr. Marino said that is one of the things we need to look into. Part of the problem is some years the volume is way up and other years the volume is not so high. We can look at hiring someone for just data collection so the office appraisers have time to analyze the abatements. Mr. Moriarty asked if hiring an assessor who was formerly employed by the department might be beneficial and Mr. Marino advised that the person would have had to have maintained his or her certification. When asked if each of the appraisers currently employed by the City of Nashua is certified, Mr. Marino answered affirmatively saying that each appraiser’s certification is maintained and they are a New Hampshire Certified Assessor. Appointments: None Old Business: None MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to adjourn at 8:40 AM. SECONDED BY Dominic D’Antoni. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. Transcribed by Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 2 of 2