Board of Assessors

Minutes of the Board of Assessors Meeting of May 5, 2016 A meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on Thursday, May 5, 2016 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 Daniel Gagnon Robert Earley Assessing Staff Present: Jon Duhamel Louise Brown Cheryl Walley Minutes of the Meeting: The minutes for the meeting held on April 21, 2016 were approved. Abatement Requests Presented: None. Staff Items: Mr. Jon Duhamel introduced himself to the Board of Assessors as the new Chief Assessor and told them he would like to give some background on himself. He said he worked for Avitar back in the year 2000 doing revaluation work. He explained for those not familiar that Avitar is a company that handles smaller towns which do not have the budget to have full time assessors. Then beginning as data collector he worked his way up in the DRA ranks. In 2007 he became the Chief Assessor in Laconia and he feels coming to Nashua as Chief Assessor is just a natural progression. He said he was born in St Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua. For grammar school he attended Infant Jesus then Nashua Catholic for junior high school and after junior high school moved to Merrimack and attended Merrimack High School. For college he attended New Hampshire College, which is now Southern New Hampshire University, and got married at St Louis Church on West Hollis Street in Nashua. So he is from Nashua and is very pleased to have been chosen to be the City of Nashua’s Chief Assessor following Mr. Angelo Marino’s retirement. Chair Dominic D’Antoni asked Mr. Duhamel if he has had much experience in court or with the Board of Tax and Land Appeals (BTLA) and Mr. Duhamel answered more so at the BTLA. The members welcomed Mr. Duhamel aboard. Ms. Louise Brown, Supervisor of Assessing Administration, presented two timber tax warrants advising one is for property owned by John Flatley located off of Spit Brook Road and the other is 1 of 4 for property near Gregg Road owned by Coosane LLC. The members signed each of the warrants. Ms. Brown presented the July, 2016 Tax Collector warrant and advised the July property tax bills are expected to be mailed May 19, 2016. The members signed this warrant. Ms. Brown referred the members to letters they received from two solar exemption applicants who filed their application for the 2016 tax year after the statutory deadline of April 15, 2016. The first is for the property located at 10 Forsythia Drive. The owners are asking for the late filing to be excused due to “accident, mistake or misfortune” and the letter states the reason for their late filing. After a brief discussion the following motion was made: MOTION BY Robert Earley to accept the late filing of this solar exemption application as the reason it was filed after the statutory deadline of April 15, 2016 is due to “accident, mistake or misfortune” as allowed by RSA 72:33 (paragraph I-a). SECONDED BY Daniel Gagnon. MOTION CARRIED. The other is for the property located at 31 Lincoln Avenue. The owners are asking for the late filing to be excused due to “accident, mistake or misfortune” and the letter states the reason for their late filing. After a brief discussion the following motion was made: MOTION BY Robert Earley to accept the late filing of this solar exemption application as the reason it was filed after the statutory deadline of April 15, 2016 is due to “accident, mistake or misfortune” as allowed by RSA 72:33 (paragraph I-a). SECONDED BY Daniel Gagnon. MOTION CARRIED. Appointments: 8:20 (originally scheduled for 8:45) - Ms. Luci Osborne, Secretary, First Church of Christ Scientist regarding the late filing of the required A-9 Form for tax year 2016 for the First Church of Christ Scientist: Ms. Osborne thanked the members for allowing her to address them and said the late filing of the A-9 Form was because the person that has been responsible for this for years has gotten a little older and sometimes has a lapse in memory. He had changed his email address and had not notified the Assessing Department so the reminder was not received and the church neglected to file the A-9 form on time. After she was notified with a letter mailed from the Assessing Department, she filed the A-9 form with a letter explaining why it was filed late and has put procedures in place to assure this will not happen again. Mr. D’Antoni explained to Ms. Osborne they have received all the documents submitted to the Assessing Department by her all the information received will be taken under advisement and First Church of Christ Scientist will receive their decision in writing within a week or so. Ms. Osborne thanked the members and left the meeting. 2 of 4 8:25 (originally scheduled for 8:30) – Ms. Janis Belmonte, Finance Director, Community Council regarding the late filing of the required A-9 Form for tax year 2016 for Community Council. Ms. Belmonte was invited to sit at the meeting table by Mr. D’Antoni. He explained to her all of the information that was sent to the Assessing Department has been turned over to the board members and will be considered in making their decision. Community Council will be sent their decision in writing within a week or so. She said she understood and explained she was officially made Finance Director last Monday, April 25th. This position has changed hands a couple of times in the past year and a half. She said she was not aware the organization was required to file a form to retain the charitable exemption as she was never involved in nonprofits in New Hampshire, but only in Massachusetts. She told them as soon as she received the letter from Assessing Department staff she called and immediately filed the required paperwork with her letter of explanation for the late filing and made this appointment to address the members to explain. She said she has put procedures in place to guard against this happening again. She asked that this late filing be accepted this year and assured the members this will not happen again. Mr. D’Antoni thanked Ms. Belmonte and she also thanked them for their time and left the meeting. Old Business: At the last meeting held April 21, 2016 there was discussion about the 2016 charitable exemption application received by MakeIt Labs for the space being leased within 25 Crown Street, a city- owned property. The item was tabled until this meeting to give the members time to read the documents requested after the initial submission. MakeIt Labs submitted evidence they are nonprofit and are using the area for the reason the organization was created. After a brief discussion the following motion was made: MOTION BY Robert Earley to approve the charitable exemption request submitted by MakeIt Labs for tax year 2016 for the space being leased within 25 Crown Street, a property owned by the City of Nashua, as the criteria set by RSA 72:23 (paragraph I) are met as of April 1, 2016. SECONDED BY Daniel Gagnon. MOTION CARRIED. Discussion ensued regarding the two organizations for which a representative addressed the board earlier in the meeting asking for the acceptance of the late filing of their A-9 form. It was noted both organizations have always filed timely and have since put procedures in place to ensure timely filing of this form in the future. The following motions were made: MOTION BY Robert Earley to accept the late filing of the First Church of Christ Scientist A-9 Form as the reason it was filed after the statutory deadline of April 15, 2016 is due to “accident, mistake or misfortune” as allowed by RSA 72:23-c (paragraph I). SECONDED BY Daniel Gagnon. MOTION CARRIED. 3 of 4 MOTION BY Robert Earley to accept the late filing of the Community Council A-9 form as the reason it was filed after the statutory deadline of April 15, 2016 is due to “accident, mistake or misfortune” as allowed by RSA 72:23-c (paragraph I). SECONDED BY Daniel Gagnon. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION BY Robert Earley to adjourn at 8:30 AM SECONDED BY Daniel Gagnon. MOTION CARRIED. Transcribed by: Cheryl Walley Department Coordinator 4 of 4