Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of May 6, 2010 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, May 6, 2010, in Room 208, 2nd floor of City Hall. The meeting was called to order at 8:17 AM by Acting Chair Dominic D’Antoni. Members Present: Dominic D’Antoni Kevin Moriarty Assessing Staff Present: Angelo Marino Robert Gagne Douglas Dame Gary Turgiss Cheryl Walley Minutes of the Meeting: Minutes of the meeting of April 1, 2010 were approved unanimously. Approval of the minutes for the meeting held on April 15th 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. Deputy Assessor Robert Gagne presented a proposed settlement offer for a 2008 BTLA abatement appeal and a 2009 abatement filed for 9 Townsend West. He went over the specifics of the property as well as the proposed offer and explained that the taxpayer’s representative has indicated that the signed settlement agreement would be forthcoming and he is presenting it today for the Board’s approval pending receipt of the signed settlement agreement. The Board then made the following motion: MOTION BY Kevin Moriarty to approve the proposed settlement agreement on the 2008 and 2009 abatements filed on 9 Townsend West with the condition that the taxpayer sign the settlement agreement. SECONDED BY Dominic D’Antoni. MOTION CARRIED Appointments: none Staff Items: Regarding an A-9 submitted by Rev. Levon Bowdre for The Twelve Apostles of Melcidezik Commercial Appraiser Doug Dame advised the Board that he had recently inspected this property which was listed as a single family house. On the first floor a room is being used for counseling and another is being used for bible studies and a part of the first floor is Rev. Bowdre’s residence. The entire second floor is smoke damaged and is not being used except for storage. Board member Mr. Kevin Moriarty asked Mr. Dame if this is a regularly 1 of 3 recognized religion and Mr. Dame told him that he was told by Rev. Bowdre that they have another church in Dorchester, MA and also have a bishop. Pictures were shown to the Board of the property. Board member, Dominic D’Antoni said before any action is taken on this he would like to see a copy of a Decision made by the Board of Tax and Land Appeals 5-10 years ago on a case where a husband and wife filed for a religious exemption and were denied so he could review the reasons why it was denied. Chief Assessor Angelo Marino told Mr. D’Antoni that it would not be relevant to this situation and he feels this property meets the criteria. Regarding the second floor being used for storage, Mr. Marino told the Board that since some of the building is being used for religious purposes then it would qualify for a full religious exemption. The church that was the subject of the Supreme Court appeal was not being used for religious purposes at all and only being used for storage and therefore the Supreme Court decided it did not qualify under State law to receive an exemption. After some brief discussion the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Kevin Moriarty to approve the request of The Twelve Apostles of Melcedezik and His Disciples for a religious property tax exemption for the tax year 2010 on the property located at 7 Amherst Street. SECONDED BY Dominic D’Antoni. MOTION CARRIED Referring to an A-9 submitted by Rev. Juan Rivera for the Hispanic Church of the Nazarene located at 28 Charron Ave, Unit 11, Mr. Dame advised the Board that he recently inspected this property as well and saw that it is being used for church services. Some pictures of the property were shown to the Board. After a brief discussion the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Kevin Moriarty to approve the request of the Hispanic Church of the Nazarene for a religious property tax exemption for the tax year 2010 for the property located at 28 Charron Ave., Unit 11. SECONDED BY Dominic D’Antoni. MOTION CARRIED A 2010 A-9 has been filed on the property at 17 Prospect Street and a parking lot on Bowers Street recently purchased by Southern NH Medical Center. The prior owner, the YMCA, is continuing to use it and for that reason it is the YMCA that has filed the A-9. Although this is not a new use, it is the change in ownership that makes it necessary to be reviewed and approved by the Board members. Mr. Marino told the Board he is looking into when the YMCA will cease using this facility and begin using the facility being built over by Stellos Stadium, but as of 4/1/2010 it was still being used by the YMCA. 2 of 3 MOTION BY Dominic D’Antoni to approve the charitable exemption on the properties mentioned above as each continues to meet the criteria set by RSA 72:28. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED Regarding four new A-9’s filed by Harbor Homes on properties they have purchased recently: 114 Palm Street, 123 Palm Street, 76 Kinsley Street and 59-73 Factory Street, the Board was advised that Harbor Homes has informed us that all four properties were under construction as of 4/1/2010. Harbor Homes said that by 4/1/2011 each of them should be used for the purposes Harbor Homes was created. MOTION BY Dominic D’Antoni to deny the request of Harbor Homes for the charitable property tax exemption on all four properties mentioned above for the tax year 2010 as these properties do not meet the criteria as of 4/1/2010. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED Mr. Gagne gave each member an Assessment Review Packet provided by the Department of Revenue of the State of NH and told the Board that the City of Nashua is due for our 5-year State assessment review. He said in 2005, the last time the review was conducted, he was with the State of NH Department of Revenue and it was he who conducted the review. He told the Board that the review will begin sometime in the next couple of months and we will get the results sometime in the spring of 2011. Mr. D’Antoni asked who from the State will be conducting the review this time and Mr. Gagne told him Mr. Chuck Reese, a Supervisor with the DRA. Mr. Gagne said he had spoken with Mr. Reese regarding what he will be reviewing and believes that we are probably a shining example of what should be done. Mr. Marino told the Board that the Assessing Department submitted a budget that was for the most part under the Mayor’s guidelines and as of now has not been cut. It is his hope that as it is reviewed by the Aldermen there will not be any cuts as well. Old Business: None MOTION BY Dominic D’Antoni to adjourn at 8:57 AM. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. Transcribed by Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 3 of 3