Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of January 3, 2013 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, January 3, 2013 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: Louise Brown Angelo Marino Cheryl Walley Minutes of the Meeting: The minutes for the meeting held on December 6, 2012 were approved. Abatement Requests Presented: No abatement requests were presented. Appointments: For the benefit of the new member on the Board, Ms. Louise Brown, Supervisor of Assessing Administration, went over the process typically taken when a taxpayer addresses the members regarding an exemption or credit issue. The taxpayer states their case and discusses the situation with the members and the Board typically will make a decision at a later time and notify the taxpayer by mail. She wanted the Board to know that it is not necessary to render a decision immediately. She provided the members with a copy of RSA 72:33 and referenced paragraph I-a which states that “no such application shall be received or exemption or credit granted after the local tax rate has been approved for that year”. She clarified that in this case, the application had been received on time but the additional paperwork necessary to determine qualification was not received until recently. Mr. George Farrington noted RSA 72:33-VI which states “The assessing officials may require applicants for any exemption or tax credit to file the information listed in RSA 72:34, or the statement required by RSA 72:33, V periodically but no more frequently than annually. Failure to file such periodic statements may, at the discretion of the assessing officials, result in a loss of the exemption or tax credit for that year.” From this he would understand that it is up to this Board to decide if the late application should be accepted and Ms. Brown confirmed that is true. 8:20 – Ms. Jamila Ansara regarding the late filing of a 2012 elderly exemption application – Chair Dominic D’Antoni welcomed Ms. Ansara and her son, Mr. Jesse Ansara. He introduced the Board members and explained that each member has received the pertinent information from Assessing staff as well as Mr. Ansara’s letter addressed to the Board dated December 17, 2012. 1 of 2 Mr. Jesse Ansara began by explaining that his mother has been receiving the elderly exemption since 1998 and because of her language barrier he fills out the form and up until now she has been good about getting the paperwork necessary together and bringing it into the Assessing Department. He said he looked at her July bill and the exemption was on there, so he mistakenly thought everything was all set until she received her December tax bill and made him aware that the exemption had been removed. Staff did a very good job explaining the paperwork that was missing which we have since submitted. He said he will be more involved in this and bring down the paperwork himself in the future. Dr. Kevin Moriarty noted that according to the information they received from the Assessing staff, it was not just one or two times Ms. Ansara was reminded but she was reminded five times of the missing paperwork. Mr. Jesse Ansara replied he did not know what was going on, so there was no way he could have helped her. It was only after she said something to him about the amount on the second tax bill that he realized there was an issue. He said it was probably a bad assumption on his part, but he will be more involved in the future filings. Mr. D’Antoni noted that the application had been received before the due date of April 15 th, 2012 but the additional paperwork was not submitted and this will be taken into consideration. He told them that they will be sent the Board’s decision in the mail. He explained how to appeal the Board’s decision should they not agree. Mr. Jesse Ansara and Ms. Jamila Ansara then thanked the Board and left the meeting. After some discussion, the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Dominic D'Antoni to approve the late filing of Ms. Ansara’s elderly exemption. SECONDED BY George Farrington. MOTION CARRIED. The Board concurred that Assessing staff had done an exemplary job in compiling and presenting the necessary information to the Board and following up with the taxpayer with several reminders to submit the necessary documentation. Staff Items: None Old Business: None MOTION BY Dominic D'Antoni to adjourn at 8:30 AM. SECONDED BY Kevin Moriarty. MOTION CARRIED. Transcribed by: Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 2 of 2