The state Supreme Court affirmed a Superior Court decision last month, siding with property owners who were challenging the town of Dublin over a property tax assessment.
In an April 12 decision, the Supreme Court refused to hear oral arguments in the case of John Morris and Joan Griffin against Dublin, affirming the lower court’s ruling that the property, which sits next to Dublin Lake, should be valued at $459,980, not at $653,000 — the amount the town (and the town’s property assessment company Avitar Associates of New England) believed the property was worth.
The court challenge cost the town $18,848 in legal fees to the Maine law firm Drummond Woodsum and MacMahon, according to officials.
“One would have hoped that once they acknowledged the error, they would have made a correction,” said Griffin, who is a trial lawyer. ” I think it was a waste of time and money.”
It was the first state Supreme Court case that Town Adminstrator Sherry Miller could remember in her seven years. Miller said the select board was previously advised not to comment on the decision, though members may talk about the case at Monday’s meeting, after the Ledger-Transcript’s deadline.
The waterfront condition factor, a number used to determine the lakefront’s impact on the property value, was at the center of the argument.
In 2013, Morris and Griffin merged three lots — a 0.01-acre piece of land, a 0.25-acre piece of rocky shoreline and their 1.4-acre property, which sits across East Lake Road from the lake — into one. After the merger, Avitar performed a revaluation and assessed the property at $668,800, with a waterfront condition factor of 225. The amount was later adjusted down to $653,000 after a home inspection – a change that would have increased Morris and Griffin’s 2014 tax bill by $5,000.
The prior year, the properties were assessed at $549,700 and given a waterfront factor of 50.
Morris, a member of the Dublin Conservation Commission and Dublin Lake Preservation Committee, and Griffin, a former zoning board member, brought evidence from nearby properties, including one that had a private beach and a waterfront factor of 200.
“I think Avitar made a mistake…they didn’t understand what the property was when they changed the value,” Griffin said.
After filing a request for abatement with the town, property owners can either appeal the state Board of Tax and Land Appeals or the Superior Court when they want to challenge an assessment.
Griffin, who would not reveal how much time and money she spent, chose court.
“I’m a lawyer, I’m comfortable in court,” Griffin said.
She said she’s upset the town spent as much as it did to challenge her case, but it was worth it to correct the mistake.
“On any given year, you might not be happy with your taxes – it was such a massive error that you couldn’t ignore it,” Griffin said.