Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of April 16, 2015 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, April 16, 2015 in Room 208, 2nd floor of City Hall. The meeting was called to order at 8:15 AM by Acting Chair Daniel Gagnon. Members Present: Daniel Gagnon Robert Earley Assessing Staff Present: Andrew LeMay Gary Turgiss Cheryl Walley Minutes of the Meeting: The minutes for the meeting held on April 2, 2015 were approved. Abatement Requests Presented: A complete list is available in the Assessor’s Office. According to RSA 75:11, the owner of record of any residence located in an industrial or commercial zone may apply on or before April 15 of each year to the selectmen or assessors for a special appraisal of the residence for that year, based upon its value at its current use as a residence. For tax year 2015 the Assessing Department has received three such applications. The members were presented with the 2015 list of properties which have requested a “Residential in Commercial” special assessment and this was signed by the members present. The members were presented with an A-9 Form and cover letter filed by the Board of Trustees for the public charter school, Academy of Science and Design. They are requesting an educational exemption on property taxes for the area leased by this organization within 486 Amherst Street. According to the A-9, they lease 66.41% of the building. The lessor and owner of the property is Samuel A. Tamposi, Sr. 1992 Trust, et al. The members discussed RSA 72:23, which sets the criteria an organization must meet in order to qualify for either a charitable, educational or religious exemption and noted that the property must be owned, used and occupied by a charitable, educational or religious organization by April 1st of the year application is made. Item #4 of the A-9 submitted indicates an educational exemption is requested. Although this educational organization is using and occupying the area leased, they are not the owners of the property. Since the 1 of 2 property is not owned by either a charitable, educational or religious organization the criteria to receive an exemption based on RSA 72:23 is not met. Deputy Assessor Andrew LeMay explained that if the owner was a charitable, educational or religious organization and it was leasing space to another charitable, educational or religious organization, the exemption can be granted. He gave an example of a church leasing space out to a charitable organization, in which case the charitable organization would file an A-9 requesting a charitable exemption for the space they are leasing, and it can be granted. If the church was leasing to a privately-owned business, the portion that business is leasing would not qualify for an exemption and the area leased would have to be taxed. If the owner is a private person or company, there is no exemption on property taxes which would apply so even if it is leasing space to a charitable, educational or religious organization, no exemption can be granted. After some discussion, the following motion was made: MOTION BY Robert Earley to deny an educational exemption for the 2015 tax year on the property owned by Samuel A. Tamposi, Sr. 1992 Trust et al, located at 486 Amherst Street, and leased by Academy for Science and Design as the property is not owned by an educational organization and therefore does not meet the criteria set forth by RSA 72:23, IV to qualify for this exemption. SECONDED BY Daniel Gagnon. MOTION CARRIED. The members were presented with an “Elderly and Disabled Tax Deferral Application” (Form PA-30) for the property located at 9 Bartemus Trail, Unit 305, and told the applicant meets the criteria set by State of NH law. The members present signed this application. MOTION BY Robert Earley to adjourn at 8:30 AM SECONDED BY Daniel Gagnon. MOTION CARRIED. Transcribed by: Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 2 of 2