Farnum: Taxes Too High? Raze Your Home!
Selectman Willie Farnum told citizens at a public meeting, in all earnestness, that if they were concerned about high property taxes they could physically destroy their homes to reduce their assessed value. Farnum encouraged tax-burdened Tamworth resident Bob Abraham to sledgehammer interior walls to reduce the number of bedrooms in his house, stating that he himself had razed a portion of his own home for precisely that purpose.
We would suggest to Willie that he, as a Selectman, is directly responsible for the tax burden on citizens and it would be more productive for everyone if he and his colleagues simply reduced spending, and thus the onerous property tax rate in town. Farnum campaigned on lowering taxes this past election season, and he ought to pursue that by substantially reducing spending and the resulting tax rate, not by destroying property values.
After receiving my notice of appraisal for my 45 year old property on Turkey Street that borders a automotive salvage yard in a area that is less desirable than most areas of our town. I was shocked the value went from 74,000 to 142,000. The fair market appraisal method standards by State law, has been thrown under the bus.
The method used for the “new appraisal” is the Cost Approach defined under Section 5.2 or the NH State Assessing Standards Board manual. Section 5.2 states ” The cost approach is based on on the principle of substitution, that a rational,informed purchaser, my addition here: anyone that isn’t totally out of their mind, would pay no more for a property than the cost of building an acceptable substitute with like utility” And states also ” The cost approach is most appropriate for new, or fairly new buildings where the improvements represent the highest and best use of the site. The principal difficulties in this approach arise in estimating viable construction cost figures, and also in estimating accrued physical, functional, and economic depreciation or obsolescence, particularly in older properties.”
This manual has been designed and ordered by the Highest Court to provide equalization to all taxing districts of what is most appropriate. Didn’t the selectmen read this book before hiring and spending all this tax payer’s money to screw us again.
If I get, and I am starting to work on it, 50 tax payers by complaint to sign my petition as to the improper way of determinig “fair market value” the town may be ordered by the NH board of revenue administration for taxation to reassess the whole town. Sorry for the added expense, but it will again be because of our selectmen. JR being a state Rep should have known these laws and seen they were followed.
Dave Gaudet
1 Nov 09 at 5:57 pm