Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of May 2, 2013 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, May 2, 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: Drew LeMay Doug Dame Louise Brown Cheryl Walley Minutes of the Meeting: The minutes for the meeting held on April 18, 2013 were approved. Abatement Requests Presented: A complete listing of all abatements approved/denied is available in the Assessor’s Office. While discussing an abatement for an industrial property, Mr. George Farrington asked if we expect to have a change or a shift in the level of assessments for commercial properties vs. residential properties when the update is complete and Deputy Assessor Drew LeMay answered that Chief Assessor Angelo Marino has been the one looking at this so it would be best to have him address that question but he would expect industrial and commercial to have a different adjustment than residential. Residential properties have such a strong influence on the database so that will be the primary driver. He said commercial retail is good, office is not as strong but we are looking at everything. Mr. D’Antoni noted that we have a very strong tax base compared to other communities. Appointments: Ms. Dedra Twomey of the Greater Nashua Dental Connection cancelled her 8:30 appointment with the Board to discuss the reason for the organization’s late filing of the required A-9 form to retain their charitable exemption. Ms. Cheryl Stocks of Actorsingers and Mr. and Mrs. Durst who had appointments at 8:45 and 9:00 respectively arrived early and the Board met with each earlier than the original appointment time to avoid having them wait. 8:20 – Ms. Cheryl Stocks of Actor Singers to discuss the late filing of that organization’s A-9 Form Chair Dominic D’Antoni introduced the Board members and advised Ms. Stock the Board members had reviewed the A-9 Form and her letter of explanation for the late filing and asked if she had anything to add. Ms. Stocks told the Board that they apologize for the late filing and she realizes it requires more work from the Board of Assessors and Assessing Department and it will not happen again. She told the Board that the contact person the Assessing Department had for the email reminder has since left the organization so no one within the organization received a reminder to file and consequently did not file. It was not until they received the 1 of 5 letter in the mail advising that the exemption is going to be removed that they realized the form was not filed. She said the email reminder is nice because it contains a link to the A-9 form since it is very difficult to find online. Dr. Moriarty asked if this is accessible on the City’s website and he was told it is not but a link will be put on there to have it more easily accessed by organizations. It was noted that having the link to the A-9 form on the website is not the solution to this problem, however, since no one within the organization even remembered to file the form. Ms. Stock said she understands and will make every effort to see this does not happen again. Ms. Stocks was advised by Mr. D’Antoni that the Board will take this under advisement and she will be notified of their decision within 7-10 days. If Actor Singers does not agree with the Board’s decision they have the right to file at the State level for an appeal, either at the Board of Tax and Land Appeals or Superior Court. Ms. Stocks then thanked the Board and left the meeting. 8:30 – Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Durst regarding the late filing of their elderly exemption application for 2013 Mr. D’Antoni introduced the Board members and advised Mr. and Mrs. Durst the Board has reviewed their letter of explanation for the late filing and asked if they have anything to add regarding the late filing of their elderly exemption application. Mrs. Durst said the older you get the more you forget and they did not realize the deadline was April 15th until they read the Telegraph article regarding a lady having problems with her house taxes. They said they did not know where to go or what to do so they were late and they are just here to see if they can get a reprieve. Mr. D’Antoni told them that the Board will take this under advisement and they will be notified of the Board’s decision within 7-10 days. If they do not agree with the Board’s decision they have the right to file at the State level for an appeal, either at the Board of Tax and Land Appeals or Superior Court. Mr. Durst asked when the income level was raised to $46,000 and he was told last year. He said he had inquired before about the exemption and was told the income level was lower and now he believes he would qualify and that is why he is applying this year. If he knew it was this high last year he would have applied then. Mr. and Mrs. Durst thanked the Board and left the meeting. Dr. Kevin Moriarty asked Ms. Louise Brown, Supervisor of Assessing Administration if she has anything to add and she told the Board that she was there just in case the Board had any questions regarding the late filing of the elderly exemption application. Dr. Moriarty asked if this is Mr. and Mrs. Durst’s first time applying and Ms. Brown answered that they had inquired before but did not meet the income level. Dr. Moriarty said if they do not have a computer how would they find out this information and Ms. Brown told the Board the information on the types of exemptions and credits as well as the filing deadline is on the back of the property tax bill but they are always welcome to call the Assessing Department and we are more than happy to give them any information about any of the exemptions and credits as well as any services 2 of 5 offered in the area for low-income or elderly. Dr. Moriarty asked if all the criteria can be listed on the back of the tax bill and Ms. Brown replied unfortunately that would not be possible due to the criteria being an entire page long and having it on there would not leave room for other information that is required by law to be on there. Mr. D’Antoni asked if this can be put in the newspaper and he was told this has been in the paper a few times. Ms. Brown said they also go to the Senior Center once a year in late January to make people aware. Frequently people come into Assessing and are upset they have not been made aware of the exemptions and credits offered and after they are told of the several avenues which are used to get the information out, they will say they do not read the paper, go to the Senior Center or read the back of their bill. Regarding the exemptions for non-profits, the law leaves the responsibility to the organization to file timely but our office sends out an email every January as a courtesy to remind them. If they want to receive this reminder they are responsible to notify us of any change in the contact’s email address. She told the Board that the Department Coordinator, Ms. Cheryl Walley, does an exemplary job with keeping up on any changes in email addresses and getting the reminders out to those contacts. Mr. D’Antoni noted there are nearly 300 properties which receive charitable, educational and religious exemptions and to have just a few not file their A-9 form timely is indicative of the Assessing Department getting the information out there. Ms. Brown added there are about 800 homeowners receiving elderly exemptions, just under 3,000 homeowners receive the veteran’s credit and about 70 homeowners get the disabled exemption. New Business Regarding the late filing of the Greater Nashua Dental Connection’s A-9 form, after a brief discussion the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Dominic D’Antoni to accept the late filing of the required A-9 form requesting a charitable exemption for property located at 31 Cross Street, and owned by Greater Nashua Dental Connection, as the reason for the late filing was due to “accident, mistake or misfortune” as set forth in RSA 72:23-c-I. SECONDED BY George Farrington. RECUSED: Kevin Moriarty (due to a possible conflict) MOTION CARRIED. Regarding the late filing of Actor Singers’ A-9 form, after a brief discussion the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Kevin Moriarty to accept the late filing of the required A-9 form requesting a educational exemption for property located at 219 Lake Street, and owned by Actor Singers, as the reason for the late filing was due to “accident, mistake or misfortune” as set forth in RSA 72:23-c-I. SECONDED BY Dominic D’Antoni. MOTION CARRIED. 3 of 5 Regarding the late filing of the National Organization of the New Apostolic Church of North America’s A-9 form, after a brief discussion the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Kevin Moriarty to accept the late filing of the required A-9 form requesting a religious exemption for property located at 32 Concord Street, and owned by the National Organization of the New Apostolic Church of North America, as the reason for the late filing was due to “accident, mistake or misfortune” as set forth in RSA 72:23-c-I. SECONDED BY Dominic D’Antoni. MOTION CARRIED. Regarding the late filing of the elderly exemption application by Mr. and Mrs. Durst, after a brief discussion the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Kevin Moriarty to accept the late filing of the elderly exemption application by Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Durst as the reason for the late filing was due to “accident, mistake or misfortune” as set forth in RSA 72:23-c-I. SECONDED BY Dominic D’Antoni. MOTION CARRIED. The Board has three new charitable exemption requests to consider for tax year 2013. Information was sent to the Board members prior to the meeting for their review. The first is for a property owned by the Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity for their property located at 45-47 Chestnut Street. The use listed on the A-9 form is “vacant”. For consideration of this exemption request the Board was sent information on a 2009 request by this same organization for vacant land which the Board approved. The Board was advised by then Deputy Assessor Robert Gagne about a BTLA Decision for an exemption request on vacant land in another municipality. The BTLA granted the exemption after the municipality had denied it. The BTLA noted the mission of the organization is to provide homes for the low income and this would be considered inventory to uphold their mission. Excerpts from the minutes of that meeting in May, 2009 at which this exemption was approved were sent to the Board. Mr. D’Antoni asked that he be provided with the location of the property which was the subject of this BTLA Decision. After some further discussion, the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Kevin Moriarty to approve the charitable exemption for the property located at 45- 47 Chestnut Street owned by Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity as it meets the criteria set forth in RSA 72:23. SECONDED BY George Farrington. MOTION CARRIED. The second is a property owned by Southern New Hampshire Medical Center located at 17 Prospect Street, the former YMCA. 25% of this property is still under construction and not yet 4 of 5 being used by the organization. Of the 75% that is being used by the organization, 50% is being used by Foundation Medical Partners and 50% is being used by Southern New Hampshire Medical Center. The Board was provided a spreadsheet of a breakdown of how the building should be taxed according to the PILOT agreement made in 2012 with Foundation Medical Partners. After a brief discussion the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Kevin Moriarty to approve the charitable exemption for 75% of the property located at 17 Prospect Street and owned by Southern New Hampshire Medical Center (37.5% used by SNHMC and 37.5% used by FMP) as it meets the criteria set forth in RSA 72:23. SECONDED BY George Farrington. MOTION CARRIED. The third is the parking lot next to 17 Prospect Street with the location of L Bowers St or more specifically identified as Map 18/Lot 6. This parking lot is available for use by SNHMC as well as FMP. After a brief discussion the Board made the following motion: MOTION BY Kevin Moriarty to approve the charitable exemption for L Bowers Street, more specifically identified as Map 18/Lot 6 referred to as L Bowers Street and owned by Southern New Hampshire Medical Center as it meets the criteria set forth in RSA 72:23. SECONDED BY George Farrington. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION BY Dominic D'Antoni to adjourn at 9:00 AM. SECONDED BY George Farrington. MOTION CARRIED. Transcribed by: Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 5 of 5