Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of May 5, 2011 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, May 5, 2011, 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 Gary Turgiss Greg Turgiss Cheryl Walley Minutes of the Meeting: Minutes of the meeting April 21, 2011 were approved. Abatement Requests Presented: A complete listing of all abatements approved/denied is available in the Assessor’s Office. Board member Dr. Kevin Moriarty asked whether work done on a property without a permit is looked into at all. Chief Assessor Angelo Marino explained that by ordinance we are to communicate with the Building Department, and advise of any work done without the proper permits. This is taken one step further however and Code Enforcement and the Fire Department are notified with this process also. Appointments: 8:30 – Unitarian Universalist Church – regarding late filing of the A-9 Form Mr. Michael Wilt, Treasurer and Reverend Steve Edington were welcomed by the Board. Chair Marylou Blaisdell advised she has read the letter explaining that the late filing was due to the confusion around the change in procedure of emailing the reminders instead of mailing them USPS mail. She said she completely understands how that can happen. The other Board members agreed. After some discussion with the church’s representatives the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to accept the late filing of the 2011 A-9 form for the properties owned by the Unitarian Universalist Church due to accident, mistake or misfortune. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. Mr. Wilt and Mr. Edington thanked the Board and left the meeting. Ms. Blaisdell asked Mr. Marino if this change in procedure from mailing the A-9’s and A-12 forms via USPS to emailing them was approved by the Legal Department. Mr. Marino advised this was simply a change in an internal office procedure and it is not necessary to get approval from the Legal Department. It was explained that the law does not require these reminders to be sent out at all and this is done as a courtesy to these organizations. After receiving each organization’s contact email address from each organization a total of three emails were sent. The first email sent in December, 2010 advised of this change in procedure explaining the change is being implemented as a cost-saving and environmentally-friendly effort. This email detailed the way the reminders will be sent and the due dates of each form. It said to expect the reminders, with a link to the fillable forms, each year mid- January. This was the only email for which proof of receipt was requested either by a reply to the email or a phone call. If receipt was not confirmed, a letter was mailed explaining with no email address there will be no reminder sent. 1 of 2 The first reminder (2nd email) sent in January, 2011 was also very detailed and had similar wording as the original letter that was previously mailed. The second reminder (3rd email) was sent March 25th and in red bold letters at the top of the email it read that this is the second and final reminder. Each email made it clear if these forms are not received by the due date, the exemption will be removed. Of the over 300 properties in the City that receive an exemption the only organizations that did not submit their forms on time were the Nashua Hanmoum Korean Church, Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity and Unitarian Universalist Church. Each organization had replied confirming receipt of the email advising of the change in procedure which verified their email addresses were correct. The Board members advised they understand the reasons why the change in procedure was implemented. Old Business: Regarding the charitable exemption request by Harbor Homes for the property located at 189 Kinsley St, the Board referred to the information supplied in their packet for this meeting. At the last meeting Ms. Blaisdell questioned the percentage of space that was being allotted to the commercial use. Deputy Assessor Drew Lemay was asked to confirm the percentage of the property used for the commercial space. After the inspection the percentage of area not utilized by Harbor Homes was changed from 7 to 17% with the change reflected in the assessment data for future reference. The Board noted the entire property with the exception of this commercial space is being used for the purpose this organization was created. The following motion was made: MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to approve the charitable exemption application received from Harbor Homes for the property located at 189 Kinsley Street for the portion of the property being used for the purposes this organization was created and for the 17% being used for commercial purposes the charitable exemption is denied. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. Staff Items: Mr. Marino advised the files are soon to be captured for the July warrant and the Board should have the warrant to sign at the next meeting. He told the Board it will be very important to have a quorum for the next three meetings to allow all the abatements filed for 2010 tax year to be processed before July 1st so none will need to be deemed denied. The Board members each agreed. MOTION BY Marylou Blaisdell to adjourn at 8:35 AM. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. Transcribed by Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 2 of 2