The Sharon Select Board unanimously voted to deny a requested tax exemption for the vacant Sharon Arts Center at a meeting on May 5.
“The auditors thought it would be time to send them a tax bill,” Select Board member Diane Callahan said, since there have been no community classes offered in about a year at the facility, a stipulation that long helped the Sharon Arts Center retain its tax-exempt nonprofit status.
The property must be “used and occupied” for educational purposes in order to receive an exemption, as cited by Select Board member Fred Woodhouse at the meeting. The property is assessed at $848,600 and the New Hampshire Institute of Art is being billed for $9,386 according to the town’s tax website.
The building has been for sale since Aug. 2019. New England College acquired it when it absorbed the New Hampshire Art Institute in 2018. It was listed for $1,006,250 at the start of 2020. Despite some prospective buyers’ interests, Callahan said she doesn’t believe the property can be subdivided due to its small size.
Callahan said she was unaware of the town incurring any expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic, although they accepted masks and sanitizer from the state, and that the town was scheduled to resume in-person Select Board meetings with appropriate precautions in July.