Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of June 21, 2012 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, June 21, 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 George Farrington Assessing Staff Present: Angelo Marino Drew LeMay Louise Brown Gary Turgiss Greg Turgiss Cheryl Walley Minutes of the Meeting: The minutes for the meeting held on June 7, 2012 were approved. Abatement Requests Presented: A complete listing of all abatements approved/denied is available in the Assessor’s Office. Dr. Kevin Moriarty asked about a relatively new policy of the Assessing Department which makes it mandatory for an appraiser to approve the report being used in defense of the abatement. He noted that there has not been any that have come before them for which the appraiser gave consent to use the appraisal. Chief Assessor Angelo Marino explained that according to USPAP if anyone wants to use the appraisal report in defense of the abatement or for other than the intended use stated in the report, we must have the appraiser's consent. Most have been done for refinancing purposes and not for abatement purposes. The appraiser will usually not give consent, because that was not the purpose the report was done. Dr. Moriarty asked if the value of the property changes if the appraisal is completed for a different reason. Mr. Marino said that the value may be different and one reason would be the valuation date the appraiser used for the report may have been based on a much earlier date. For a 2011 abatement, 4/1/2011 would be the valuation date. Dr. Moriarty asked if an appraisal done for refinancing might be more conservative. Deputy Assessor Drew LeMay said that in some past decisions of the Board of Tax and Land Appeals (BTLA) it has been expressed that appraisals done for refinancing are generally more conservative. It can become a liability issue with third parties relying on that value as market value when sometimes non-arms length transactions are used as comparable sales and there has not been any kind of analysis for abatement purposes done. It really is a different kind of product. Although new laws allow the borrower to obtain a copy of the report, their client is actually the bank and not the borrower. Regarding several abatements being presented for Millstone II development, the Board was told that although only those who filed a 2011 abatement will be getting any over-payment of 2011 taxes refunded, the assessments for the entire development were adjusted for 2012 and everyone's final bill due in December 2012 will be based on the adjusted assessment. Mr. Marino advised this is an atypical development where the developer was leasing the land to each unit owner and as time goes 1 of 2 by there are certain windows of time where they can purchase the land, so we were capitalizing the land value but when those two pieces, land and unit, were brought together, we had a better indication of the actual market value. Mr. George Farrington asked if the information sent to the Board members is public and was told that it is (unless it is regarding confidential material, such as income sometimes used to value commercial properties). He noted that in one packet for a property the neighborhood is labeled as inferior and he asked if we run the risk of offending anyone. Mr. Marino explained that this is an actual rating used in the appraisal process to determine value and sometimes necessary to include with information to the Board to explain the value. Appointments: None Staff Items: Ms. Louise Brown, Supervisor of Assessing Administration, presented a Warrant for a Timber Tax Levy for wood cut on Map A/Lot 798. Each member signed the Warrant. Mr. Marino told the Board members that an agreement has been reached with Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center regarding the Superior Court appeal of their exemption denials. There are still some things that need to be ironed out, but it will be presented to the Board in the near future. The Board was presented a new charitable exemption request for 2012 for property located at 615 Amherst Street, owned by the Greater Nashua Council on Alcoholism and managed by Harbor Homes. The property was inspected recently and it is being used for the mission the charitable organization was created. After a brief discussion the following motion was made: MOTION BY Kevin Moriarty to approve the charitable property tax exemption application for Map I, Lot 2 located at 615 Amherst St. and owned by Greater Nashua Council on Alcoholism as this property meets the criteria in RSA 72:23 to receive a charitable property tax exemption as of April 1, 2012. SECONDED BY Dominic D’Antoni. MOTION CARRIED unanimously. MOTION BY Dominic D'Antoni to adjourn at 8:50 AM. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED. Transcribed by Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 2 of 2