Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of June 7, 2012 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, June 7, 2012, in Room 208, 2nd floor of City Hall. The meeting was called to order at 8:15 AM by Chair Dominic D'Antoni. Members Present: Dominic D'Antoni Kevin Moriarty Assessing Staff Present: Drew LeMay Doug Dame Louise Brown Gary Turgiss Greg Turgiss Cheryl Walley Chair Dominic D'Antoni welcomed Mr. George Farrington as a newly appointed member of the Board of Assessors. Minutes of the Meeting: The minutes for the meeting held on May 17, 2012 were approved. Abatement Requests Presented: A complete listing of all abatements approved/denied is available in the Assessor’s Office. Residential Appraiser Greg Turgiss presented an abatement for a property located in the Trestlebrook neighborhood and Dr. Kevin Moriarty wanted to know why, even after an addition was put on, the assessment is much lower than that of some other comparable properties in the area. Mr. Turgiss said that this is one of the neighborhoods that should be looked at because the assessments are all high. State law only allows us to abate those which have an abatement filed for 2011 but after analyzing sales in the neighborhood it is clear there may be a need for adjustments to bring the entire neighborhood in line with market value. He said there are a lot of foreclosures out there because the properties are on leased land. He noted that Trestlebrook, Walden Pond, Ternbury Square and Millstone are other neighborhoods that seem to have assessments which fall above the ratio to market value and he suspects this is something that will be adjusted. 1 of 2 Appointments: None Staff Items: At the last meeting Deputy Assessor Drew LeMay presented an abatement for the property located at 90 Concord Street which was receiving a religious exemption. The abatement was approved but he was asked to find out what the use of the property was as of April 1, 2012 as the property is currently up for sale, and if the property is vacant the exemption should be removed for this tax year. Mr. LeMay has since spoken with the listing agent and was told that the last nun moved out in December, 2011 and it has been vacant since then. The A-9 Form which is required each year to apply for the exemption, stated the building's use as "convent". It is clear that as of 4/1/2012 the building was no longer being used as a convent and therefore would not qualify to receive the religious exemption. The Board then made the following motion: MOTION BY Dominic D'Antoni to deny the religious exemption for the property located at 90 Concord Street as this property does not meet the criteria to receive a religious property tax exemption for the 2012 tax year. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED Ms. Louise Brown, Supervisor of Assessing Administration, presented a supplemental bill for July, 2012 for 90 Concord Street and the Board members present each signed the warrant. She noted that enclosed with the supplemental bill will be a letter explaining the property no longer meets the criteria for this religious exemption. MOTION BY Dominic D'Antoni to adjourn at 8:40 AM. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED. Transcribed by Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 2 of 2