More than 100 Rindge residents protested recent property assessments and voiced frustration over the assessing process at Wednesday night’s Select Board meeting.
In response, the board agreed to see if the Department of Revenue Administration would allow the town to use its current assessed value to set the tax rate, while town officials try to address concerns about the revaluations.
Select Board members said the town has been fielding many calls about the revaluations from residents whose home and land values doubled or tripled based on the assessments from Avitar Associates of New England, which has been conducting the town’s revaluation since January. Some of those who called said those assessments are out of line with recent home sales in their area or separate, professional assessments the residents had done for other purposes.
Select Board members shared those frustrations. At least two said they were likely to request abatements if their original assessments are not adjusted.
“We’re tearing our hair out right now,” Select Board Chair Bob Hamilton said.
In anticipation of a large crowd, the Select Board held the meeting in the town’s Recreation Department building, instead of the board’s town office meeting room. Despite the larger space, it was still standing room only.
Hamilton explained that town officials have reported many of the complaints to Avitar, but whether adjustments have been made based on those complaints is still up in the air.
He said the board was expecting final assessments from Avitar by Oct. 1 but had not received them.
“As of this meeting, none of us know what the final figures are. We don’t have the adjustment,” Hamilton said. Town officials have talked with Avitar representatives about complaints the town has received about improper assessments in particular neighborhoods, including lakefront properties and mobile home parks.
“Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t,” Hamilton said, of Avitar making adjustments to the assessments based on complaints. “I’m not going to bet on it.”
He said the revaluation is not official until the assessing officials, in Rindge’s case, the Select Board, accept it.
“Are you happy so far?” Hamilton asked his fellow selectmen on whether they were prepared to accept Avitar’s revaluation.
“Absolutely not,” said Selectman Larry Cleveland.
“I have one I’m going to contest,” said Selectman Tom Coneys, referring to his own assessment.
Hamilton displayed a listing of assessments, saying he had given up on highlighting ones that had doubled, because there were too many, and had highlighted those that had tripled.
He said some of the assessments were clearly not in line with market value. He mentioned one example of a piece of land that was one-tenth of an acre and was assessed at $459,000.
Residents who attended the meeting, many of whom were lakefront property owners, spoke about what they said were out-of-line assessments.
Simon Moseley, who lives on Pine Eden Road on Pool Pond, said that base value for homes on the pond appear to have been calculated using a single sale, and did not take into account five other recent sales, which he said “vastly skew[ed] the scale.”
Anne Reed, who owns property on Lake Monomonac, said the assessments of various homeowners on the lake seemed arbitrary and inconsistent. She contested her assessment and had an Avitar representative come to her property.
“The factors they’re using for upcharging or downcharging are subjective,” Reed said. “It makes no sense to me.”
It was Reed who first questioned if the board would be able to disregard Avitar’s assessment and use the current valuation of the town.
Hamilton, who mentioned that this idea had been floated prior to the meeting, said, “I’m going to take that recommendation to heart, immediately.”
He asked if the other board members had thoughts about seeing whether that was possible. Cleveland was in favor. Coneys cited potential pros and cons to trying to re-do the assessment, including that the current valuation may be a bit under-valued, and the market may continue to increase values in the next year. But he said he was not opposed to exploring the option.
“I don’t think it hurts to ask,” Coneys said.
The board voted unanimously to direct Town Administrator Max Vandervliet to contact the Department of Revenue Administration to seek a delay of the revaluation, which is required by law to be completed every five years, and allow the town to use its current valuation to set the tax rate. The town would then either have to choose another vendor to do the process over next year or continue to work with Avitar on the current valuation process.
Board members were clear that they don’t know if this will be allowed.
But the alternative, Hamilton said, is to have individual landowners go through the abatement process. Based on current complaints, that could shoot abatement requests into the hundreds, overwhelming the office and leaving the town with a tax collection shortfall.
If the town re-did the valuation, it would cost around $170,000, but Hamilton pointed out that covering abatements would likely be far more costly.
The board also discussed the process for residents appealing their assessments and requesting abatements. The board agreed to attach information about the appeal and abatement process discussed at the meeting to the meeting minutes and to put it on the assessing page of the town’s website.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.