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The following letter was submitted to the Meredith News for publication next week. This is posted with the writer's permission.
Letter to the Editor Meredith News August 2010
The Vision Appraisal Process in Moultonboro has resulted in amazingly flawed results and frustrated homeowners have been given little hope that these results will be improved. With the devaluation of properties nationwide and locally that has been well documented, and the large number of properties that have languished, unsold, on the market in the last several years, the news that our lakeside property values have increased 28% (roughly $250,000 in a large number of homes) is ridiculous. The entire town valuation has increased! Have you heard of ANY town in the country whose values have increased?
As a Realtor, I can assure you that property values are not up. Assessments are NOT up. Private assessments (and they happen regularly every time a home mortgage is obtained for financing or refinancing) are down. Realtors work daily with clients to determine the selling price of a property through a “Comparative Market Analysis” process which has similarities to the assessment process, and I doubt that you could find a Realtor who would say that home prices have gone up from the prior appraisals to the new time period of April 2009-April 2010.
The DATA that Vision Appraisals has used for waterfront is flawed. With nearly 1800 waterfront lots in Moultonboro, there were 30 sales in the April 2009-April 2010 time frame. Of those 30, 5 were discarded (for a variety of reasons that VA deemed valid) and the remaining 25 sales formed the basis of the analysis of value in such a convoluded way that it can’t be simply summarized. Suffice it to say that the properties were sub divided into “zones,” sales price was compared to prior assessed value, and factors were assigned that were applied to get the new values. Essentially groups of 2-5 homes with widely varying prices and sizes were used to come up with the new assessment. And the results were hugely different from the prior year.
Vision Appraisal did their analysis without sharing the way that they did it, didn’t discuss the methods that they used, sent out the new valuations, and had “meetings” with residents.,,,not to answer questions, but just to provide a “step” (hurdle?) before owners were able to talk with the Selectmen or the Town Appraiser. Then the owners were told to wait for the tax bills to arrive, PAY THE TAXES and file for an abatement later.
Who does Vision Appraisals work for? They work for the Selectmen. The Town Assessor (we HAVE one!) works for the Selectmen. The Selectmen responded with surprise at the Selectmen’s meeting on Thursday night at the extent of the frustration and anger over the new appraisals. They promised to “look into” the situation. Until they do, and until the issue is resolved, waterfront owners should get together to agree on a response….whether they pay their last year tax rate or hold off payment altogether, a unified response to this abysmal process should be developed.
Janet Cramer
MOULTONBOROUGH — Updated taxable property values here are about to enter the last stages of being finalized for the 2009 tax year. Vision Appraisal Technology, the firm retained by the town, will be shortly mailing out informational letters to property owners of the town’s approximately 7,350 parcels of land. The letters will state the proposed assessed value of land and building(s) as of April 1, 2009. Property owners who would like an informal hearing to discuss the proposed values should call Vision Appraisal at 1-888-844-4300 from Monday, July 13, 2009 through Friday, July 31, 2009, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The last day scheduled for hearings is August 3, so property owners are encouraged to call Vision Appraisal as soon as they can. Topics of discussion can include an explanation of the valuation, information on the property record card as well as the market data used to determine the proposed value. The notices being mailed out are not tax bills, and Vision will not be able to discuss or predict the actual amount of the tax bill that will result. Informal hearings will be by appointment only and will be held at the Town Hall located on
