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Board of Assessors Minutes

Meeting date: 
Monday, August 17, 2015

TOWN OF LITTLETON
BOARD OF ASSESSORS MEETING
MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2015
10:00 AM
TOWN OFFICE CONFERENCE ROOM

Present: Chairman Marghie Seymour, V. Chairman Milton T. Bratz, Selectman Schuyler Sweet, Executive Secretary Ceil Stubbings

Others Present: Joe Lessard (MRI), Scott Marsh (MRI), Ken Rodgers (KRT Appraisal)

Seymour called the Board of Selectmen meeting to order at 10:00 AM.

Budget Committee Appointment – Carolyn Murro – Alternate Member
Seymour questioned why they making the budget committee appointment at this time. Bratz explained that this appointment should have been made at their last board meeting but had been missed because the appointee had applied just after the deadline. Bratz further explained that the budget committee plans to meet before the end of August. The board of selectmen will not meet until September 14, 2015. Seymour was ok with making the appointment but stated they would need to ratify the appointment at the first meeting scheduled in September. Bratz made the motion to appoint Carolyn Murro as an alternate to the budget committee. Sweet seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-0.

Seymour then called the Board of Assessors to order at 10:02 AM.

KRT Appraisal Review
Ken Rodgers provided the board with an outline of the statistical update results. Joe Lessard said that overall most appraisals have gone down with some that went up. Rodgers stated the presentation shows how the new values measure up to the old values based on the recent sales. As of now the median ratio will be at .97% of market value. The old rate was at 1.08% so you are coming down in value overall. Rodgers then provided the breakdown on the classes of property as follows:

                            New Ratio     Old Ratio
Single Family       0.97               1.08
Mobile Homes      0.97               1.08
Vacant Land         0.95               1.17
Commercial          0.97               1.24

Ken Rodgers said the commercial properties could be a bit misleading because there were not very many sales. He explained that they measure the standard deviation from where the median is. Rodgers said they are a lot tighter overall with the new rate at 8.61% where it was at 17.68%. The single family group are at about 6% where they were at 12% before. Mobile homes are always tough because you are dealing with a low value. Seymour asked why mobile homes and vacant land continue to be so far off. Rodgers said it is because you are dealing with a lower number value wise. If you are off a couple of thousands of dollars that is a large percentage. Joe Lessard said the state has parameters of where these numbers should fall in. Lessard said the standard is 20% overall. Lessard said overall the reval is very good and all of them meet the 20%. Rodgers said they also check for vertical equity. This is when the lower value property is being assessed the same as the larger more valuable homes. Rodgers explained they use a price ratio differential and as long as the numbers are between .98 and 1.03 they meet the guidelines. The next appraisal is the unsold property test. They basically compare the sold ratio to the unsold ratio. This test shows that we are treating the sales and the non-sales the same. Rodgers provided the overall percent of change by class as follows:

  • Overall -5.66%
  • Residential -7.31%
  • Vacant Land -27.40%
  • Commercial -8.00%
  • Industrial -2.00%


The board then discussed some changes to the letter that was being sent out to the property owners before the end of the week. The letter will provide details of who to contact to set up an appointment to discuss the new valuations.

Abatement Requests:

Sabbow & Co., Inc., 390 Highland Ave., Tax Map 86/57, 2014 Tax Year, $6,109.00. 
Sweet made the motion to approve the abatement. Bratz seconded the motion. Motion passed 3-0.

Sabbow & Co., Inc., Highland Ave., Tax Map 86/135, 2014 Tax Year, $1,432.00.
Sweet made the motion to approve the abatement. Bratz seconded the motion. Motion passed 3-0.

Sabbow & Co., Inc., Highland Ave., Tax Map 86/10, 2014 Tax Year, recommendation to deny.
Scott Marsh stated the owners are selling the parcel for the amount of the assessed value. His recommendation is to deny the abatement request. Sweet made the motion to deny the abatement request. Bratz seconded the motion. Motion to deny the abatement passed 3-0.

Gerald Winn, St. Johnsbury Road, Tax Map 45/11, 2014 Tax Year, $3,258.96.
Marsh said the request is because the parcel is zoned as commercial but it has limited usage. Sweet made the motion to approve the abatement. Bratz seconded the motion. Motion passed 3-0.

VMO Inc., 26 Jackson St., Tax Map 78/174, 2014 Tax Year, $313.02
Sweet made the motion to approve the abatement. Bratz seconded the motion. Motion passed 3-0.

Sweet made the motion to approve two land use change taxes from releases. Bratz seconded the motion. Motion passed 3-0. Sweet made the motion to adjourn. Bratz seconded the motion. Motion to adjourn passed 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 11:02 AM.