Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of April 15, 2010 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, April 15, 2010, in Room 208, 2nd floor of City Hall. The meeting was called to order at 8:17 AM by Chair Marylou Blaisdell. Members Present: Marylou Blaisdell Kevin Moriarty Assessing Staff Present: Angelo Marino Robert Gagne Douglas Dame Greg Turgiss Louise Brown Cheryl Walley Minutes of the Meeting: Approval of the minutes for the meeting held on April 1st was tabled until the next meeting when members that were at that meeting are present. Abatement Requests Presented: A complete listing of approvals/denials is available in the Assessor’s Office. Appointments: 8:30 – Ms. Ellen Mack regarding 2010 Disabled Exemption Application for Property located at 6 Norfolk Street Chair Marylou Blaisdell welcomed Ms. Ellen Mack and advised that the Board members have reviewed all the documentation she had submitted. Ms. Blaisdell noted that Ms. Mack is in the process of getting a divorce however she is still legally married. If an applicant for an exemption is legally married on April 1st of the tax year the application is made, State of NH law says that the combined income and assets must be considered when determining qualification. The law leaves no leeway for this. Ms. Mack said she is going to see if the courts will issue a divorce decree effective 4/1/2010. Ms. Blaisdell pointed out that it is already well past 4/1/2010 and Ms. Mack advised that the judge can deem her divorced any day he wants to. Ms. Blaisdell said if Ms. Mack does receive a divorce decree rendering her divorced by 4/1/2010 then the Board will reconsider. Ms. Blaisdell told Ms. Mack that the Board will discuss this further and make their decision based on all the paperwork submitted and Ms. Mack will be notified by letter of their decision. Due to the confidential nature of the information that is necessary for the Board to discuss relative to this request, the Board made the following motion: 1 of 4 MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to go into non-public session to discuss taxpayer’s confidential financial issues. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to come out of non-public session. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to seal the minutes of the non-public session. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to deny the request of Mrs. Ellen Mack for the disabled exemption for tax year 2010 due to the taxpayer not meeting the criteria set by RSA 72:37-b as of 4/1/2010. This denial will be reconsidered by the Board should the taxpayer provide a divorce decree rendering her marital situation as divorced as of 4/1/2010 as well as an updated income and asset statement, so the Board can reconsider and then base their decision using the criteria for a single person by considering only the applicant’s income and assets. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED. Staff Items: Referring to a hardship abatement filed on the property located at 90 Langholm Drive, Ms. Blaisdell advised that the Board had reviewed all the information filed by Mrs. Kathleen Hanley, the owner of the property. Due to the confidential nature of the information that is necessary for the Board to discuss relative to this request, the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to go into non-public session to discuss taxpayer’s confidential financial issues. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to come out of non-public session. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to seal the minutes of the non-public session. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. 2 of 4 MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to deny the request of Mrs. Kathleen Hanley for an abatement due to hardship as the information supplied does not support a hardship as defined by state law. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED. Referring to a 2009 hardship abatement and tax deferral filed on the property located at 15 Meadowbrook Drive, Ms. Blaisdell advised that the Board had reviewed all the information filed by Mr. Jon Pelland, the owner of the property. Referring to a 2009 tax deferral filed by Mr. A. David Pierce on the property located at 13 Manchester Street, Ms. Blaisdell advised that the Board had reviewed all the information filed by Mr. A. David Pierce, the owner of the property. Due to the confidential nature of the information that is necessary for the Board to discuss relative to this request, the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to go into non-public session to discuss taxpayer’s confidential financial issues. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to come out of non-public session. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to seal the minutes of the non-public session. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to deny the request of Mr. Jon Pelland for an abatement due to hardship as the information supplied does not support a hardship as defined by state law. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to approve the request of Mr. Jon Pelland for a tax deferral for the tax year 2009. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to approve the request of Mr. A. David Pierce for a tax deferral for the tax year 2009. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED. 3 of 4 Supervisor of Assessing Administration, Ms. Louise Brown, presented two warrants for the Board’s signature for Reports of Wood Cut that were filed. After a brief discussion, the Board signed both warrants. Mr. Gagne presented an “Application for Current Use” for parcel ID G-19 (Account #40011, 15 North Southwood Dr) with a surveyed plan illustrating the proposed piece of land for which this special assessment is requested. After listening to this presentation by Mr. Gagne, the Board members each approved this application. The Board was presented with the “Residential in Commercial List” for 2010 for those properties which are allowed a special assessment for a property that has a residential use but is located in a commercial zone. The members signed this list which will be kept on file in the Assessor’s Office. While reviewing the above requests for the various financial-based exemptions and abatements, Mr. Moriarty noted that some supplied their 2009 income tax filing and some did not. He asked why we do not require this of everyone filing for a financial-based property tax exemption. Mr. Marino advised since the IRS does not require the taxpayer to file due to the level of their income, the city does not require the taxpayer to supply us with that when filing for the exemption. Mr. Moriarty asked Mr. Marino if we could require the taxpayer to file an income tax return to be sure we are getting an accurate picture of an applicant’s income. Mr. Marino told the Board he will ask the Legal Department and get back to them with their answer. Deputy Assessor Robert Gagne told the Board that they expect to be processing all the remaining abatements with an approval or a denial which would result in few if any abatements being “deemed denied”. He told the Board they can expect to be busy in the next couple of months reviewing the materials sent to them for each of these pending abatements. Old Business: Chief Assessor Angelo Marino advised the Board that he had a meeting with the Mayor, Legal Department and the attorney that may be hired for an appeal which we expect to be filed by Southern NH Medical Center. There is a meeting scheduled tomorrow, April 16, 2010 with representatives from their side and our side for them to explain why they feel they should be exempt. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisell to adjourn at 9:17 AM. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. Transcribed by Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 4 of 4