Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of March 7, 2013 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, March 7, 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: Angelo Marino Andrew LeMay Doug Dame Greg Turgiss Gary Turgiss Cheryl Walley Minutes of the Meeting: The minutes for the meeting held on February 21, 2013 were approved. Appointments: None. Abatement Requests Presented: A complete listing of all abatements approved/denied is available in the Assessor’s Office. Regarding an abatement presented by Residential Appraiser, Gary Turgiss, for which he is recommending denial, Mr. George Farrington asked the reason for the denial. Mr. Turgiss said the two sales that were submitted as evidence were non-arms length and therefore not sufficient evidence. According to State of NH law, the burden of proof is on the taxpayer when filing an abatement and there was no proof of over-assessment submitted with the abatement. Regarding two abatements presented by Residential Appraiser Greg Turgiss for condominiums on Blackstone Drive, Dr. Kevin Moriarty asked about the disparity of assessments in this development and was told that next year they will all be in line. Mr. Marino explained that we have to be cautious of two areas, one is the equity and the other is the assessment as it relates to the sale price of other properties when an abatement is filed, because it is not possible to defend our assessment when you find the market value and the municipality’s ratio to assessment is off. It is not correct to say the assessments in this complex are at this level so this assessment should be at this level, you have to compare it to the common level for the community. We have to be able to defend it in an abatement proceeding. First of all what is the market value and then we need to look at what is the ratio in the community. So staying at the higher level of assessment is incorrect when processing an abatement. This is one of those complexes we have to pay more attention to in order to maintain equity within the development. Mr. Marino explained that doing an analysis for an abatement is much more specific than the global view of what all properties are selling for. We look at market value based on sales that pertain specifically to that subject property. There are factors that affect values differently 1 of 2 within different neighborhoods. The statistics that the State produces are based on an estimate of all properties in the City not individual classes or neighborhoods. The Board received a letter in their packet from Mr. Harvey Lavoie of 5 Terrace Street regarding issues surrounding this 6-unit property. Each of the Board members has read the letter and will take it under advisement and place it on file. Each member of the Board received a copy of a letter from the State of NH Department of Revenue containing our median equalization ratio of 109.7%. This letter states this is what we are to utilize when we equalize assessments for abatements. Because there are more residential sales than commercial sales it is the residential portion of the sales base that drives the ratio. You will find the residential sales are closer than the commercial sales, because there are more sales of residential properties so they have more weight than the commercials when the State is calculating the ratio. Mr. Farrington said then it is not the dollar value of the sale, because the commercial would be weighted heavier. Mr. Marino agreed and said another statistic provided by the State is the weighted mean, to which higher prices are more important. MOTION BY Dominic D'Antoni to adjourn at 9:00 AM. SECONDED BY George Farrington. MOTION CARRIED. Transcribed by: Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 2 of 2