Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of June 5, 2014 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, June 5, 2014 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 Robert Earley Daniel Gagnon Assessing Staff Present: Angelo Marino Andrew LeMay Cheryl Walley Gary Turgiss Greg Turgiss Doug Dame Minutes of the Meeting: The minutes for the meeting held on May 15, 2014 were approved. Abatement Requests Presented: A complete list of abatements presented is available in the Assessor’s Office. An industrial condominium located at 120 Northeastern Blvd (Unit 200) was being presented for approval and Commercial Appraiser Doug Dame told the Board that it had previously been one building and was separated into two industrial condominiums for tax year 2013. Mr. Robert Earley wanted to know what the assessment was on the other unit (Unit 100) to compare the two assessments to what the assessment was prior to the property being made into condos. That information was not available at the meeting but Mr. Earley was told the property record card would be emailed to him after the meeting. This settlement offer was approved. Mr. Dame presented a settlement offer for an abatement on an industrial property located at 575 Amherst Street. Mr. Dominic D’Antoni expressed some concerns and said he would not be agreeing to this settlement, however he feels the assessment should be adjusted but to a somewhat higher value than this settlement offer and explained why. After some further discussion the other two members concurred and the abatement was tabled for a future meeting to allow further negotiation. Mr. Earley noted that not all abatements are having the 96% equalization ratio applied to the proposed assessment and asked why. Chief Assessor Angelo Marino told the members that when the assessment is being lowered based only on data corrections there is no need to estimate a market value. This was already done and the 96% would have already been applied through the update process. Commercial Appraiser Andrew LeMay presented several abatements filed at the local level for tax year 2013 for which little or no evidence was submitted. Since the burden of proof is on the taxpayer, he must recommend denial. Mr. Earley wanted to know more about the procedure when abatements are submitted with little or no evidence. Mr. Marino explained that in order to 1 of 2 perfect an appeal a taxpayer has to apply locally and recent court cases have set the threshold very low on what evidence must be presented at the local level. Some tax representatives submit abatements with just a couple of sentences and know they can take it further after it is denied at the local level. If evidence is submitted after the abatement is appealed to the Board of Tax and Land Appeals or Superior Court, we may then begin negotiation with the tax representative. He said sometimes the taxpayer is not even aware this is happening and is only contacted by their tax representative after a settlement is offered. Appointments: None. Staff Items: Ms. Louise Brown, Supervisor of Assessing Administration, presented two warrants for Timber Tax for wood cut on the following parcels: one warrant for two lots in Map A, Lot 1012 & 798 and the other warrant for Map B/Lot 3143. These were both signed by each member. The Board was presented with a listing of all requests for charitable, religious and educational exemptions for tax year 2014 for which approval is recommended. The A-9 form and A-12 form with financials (for charitable organizations) were submitted timely and each meets the criteria set forth in RSA 72:23 to receive such exemption. This was signed by all members present. MOTION BY Robert Earley to adjourn at 8:45 SECONDED BY Daniel Gagnon. MOTION CARRIED. Transcribed by: Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 2 of 2