PARIS – Tax abatement requests are still rolling into the Oxford County commissioners’ office as a result of Waterford’s decision to tax some recreational vehicles.

The commissioners have held two tax-abatement hearings for out-of-town residents who keep recreational vehicles year-round at Keoka Beach Camping Area in Waterford. On Tuesday, county Administrative Assistant Carole Mahoney said nine more abatement requests have since been filed.

Mahoney said there could be a delay before any more hearings are held.

“I think we’re going to wait until the town (of Waterford) tells us that this is all we can get,” she said, explaining that there is a statute of limitations on filing for abatements.

Waterford Town Clerk Brenda Bigonski said Thursday that property owners have “185 days from the date of the commitment of the tax” to file for an abatement hearing. The commitment was Aug. 1, she said, “So they still have quite a bit of time.”

Bigonski said she had two more abatement requests at the town office, which will be sent to the county.

Keoka Beach Camping Area has been hardest hit by Waterford’s new policy. Waterford Selectmen Whizzer Wheeler and Cynthia Hamlin at a Nov. 16 meeting told the county commissioners that there are more and more recreational vehicles being left at the campground year-round.

The town made a “philosophical change,” the selectmen said, and decided to tax RVs left at campgrounds through the winter at a rate similar to those assigned summer cottages. Summer homes are taxed at a rate that averages $54 to $60 per square foot, Wheeler said.

In order to come up with an equal value, Waterford first established criteria to determine whether an RV is being used as a mobile home instead of a camper, which is easily moved. Wheeler said permanent lakefront RVs were taxed at 100 percent of their original value if they were less than 10 years old, or 85 percent of that value if they were older. Permanent RVs set back from the lake were likewise taxed at 85 percent or 65 percent of their value.

Some RV owners have since complained that the town has not taxed their vehicles at a fair market value, and that higher depreciation rates should be taken into consideration.