Board of Assessment Appeals - Special Meeting

Board of Assessment Appeals

Minutes of the March 4, 2014 Special Meeting

The meeting was called to order at 6:59 pm in Room 103 with Scott Sirianni and Sharon Lawson in attendance.  Also present was David Gardner, assessor.

The assessor reviewed with the board proposed additions to assessment and presented a spreadsheet listing the properties proposed for increased assessments on the list of October 1, 2013, listing each with its 2012 assessment, 2013 assessment, proposed revision, amount of change and explanatory comments.  Scott Sirianni made and Sharon Lawson seconded a motion to approve the proposed increases as presented and the motion passed 2-0.  The affected taxpayers will be sent a notice of the proposed assessments giving them an opportunity to explain to the board why it should not adopt the increase, as required by law.
At approximately 7:08 pm the board members began to meet individually with taxpayers – Mr. Sirianni meeting with them in the kitchen and Ms Lawson remaining in Room 103.

Mr Sirianni met with the owners of 11 Brownstone Turn and Ms Lawson with the owners of 15 Shadowbrook. 

Ms Lawson heard the appeal of Dominic Duke on 116 Hilltop Drive.

Ms Lawson heard Scott Woessner’s motor vehicle appeal.

Mr. Sirianni heard Mrs. Tourtilotte’s motor vehicle appeal.

Ms Lawson met with David Urbach, of Derbee Properties, owner of 7 Herman Drive.

Mr. Sirianni met with Andrew Mason on his motor vehicle appeal and then with James Ray on his motor vehicle appeal.

Mr. Nocera joined the meeting just before 8:00 pm and the board took up Item 3 of the agenda, a discussion of appeal procedures.  Discussion ensued and the assessor brought up the March 1 deadline for the board to respond to an appeal petition or to notify the appellant of the time, date and place of their hearing and how the chairman or the whole board, could make a decision if needed and still meet its deadline.  Mr. Nocera suggested that the board could notice a meeting by conference call, arranged so that the public could hear the discussion and the vote.  In the event that that was not possible, the chairman will make the decision. There was no motion made concerning this.
The board considered the matter of allowing a hearing on an appeal petition that was received on February 25, 2014.  The appeal petition was concerned with the assessor’s denial of a farm land classification.  It was accompanied by a letter from the property owner and a copy of the farm land application.  These had previously been sent to the board members and copies were made for each member who needed one during the meeting.  A recent memorandum of decision in a superior court case ruling on the difference between filed and postmarked, and the February 20 deadline to appeal to the board of assessment appeals had also been made available and was distributed at the meeting.  These are on file in the assessor’s office.

The assessor was asked if the board had granted a hearing on a late-filed appeal and he answered that to his knowledge, the only exception to the February 20 deadline had been to accept an appeal filed on the next business day when February 20 was a holiday.  He related that there had been one appeal when the appellants had been away when the results of the informal hearings were mailed and they were not heard after filing their appeal after the deadline.

Stephen Nocera made and Scott Sirianni seconded a motion to deny the request for a hearing on the petition to the Board of Assessment Appeals.  The motion passed 3-0.

Stephen Nocera made and Scott Sirianni seconded a motion to adjourn. It passed 3-0.  The meeting adjourned at 8:59 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

David M. Gardner, Assessor

Acting as Clerk of the Board