PARIS – Admitting the Waterford Board of Selectmen is unsure whether it had the authority to impose a new recreational vehicle tax, Selectman Whizzer Wheeler has said the town may be willing to listen to alternatives proposed by a committee of RV owners.
No committee exists at this time, but at a June 21 meeting, Wheeler told the Oxford County commissioners the selectmen would be willing to work with a group if it were formed.
There would be two conditions, he added. One, that RVs left at local camping areas year-round be taxed as either personal property or real estate and not excised.
“And secondly,” Wheeler said, “that I don’t want to go through and try to go retroactive to last year with the assessments.”
At least 12 tax abatements have been filed with the county since Waterford imposed the RV tax last year. The tax assumes that the RVs appreciate in value because they are on leased parcels of land year-round. The state says RVs may be taxed as personal property or real estate, but Waterford has entered a gray area with its interpretation of the law, according to Wheeler and others.
“What gives the town the authority to tax (RVs) as personal property but assuming an appreciative value?” Commissioner Chairman Steve Merrill asked June 21.
“I don’t know,” Wheeler said. “And that’s part of why we’re coming hat-in-hand and saying, if that group wants to come forward and make a committee, we would welcome it.”
All the abatements in question have been filed by people who keep RVs at Keoka Beach Camping Area in South Waterford village. Most have complained that the town has unfairly assessed their vehicles. For example, Richard Parlin of Greene, who was at the June 21 meeting, said his 14-year-old travel trailer was worth $4,700, but has been assessed for $10,725.
Taxes jumped from as little as little as $20 or $30 in excise tax to well over $100 for some.
Merrill has said the taxpayers bear the burden of proof in an abatement and must show the town erred in its assessments. The commission has to consider whether there were any glaring errors made in the assessment process, whether the assessments were based on fair market value, and whether the RVs were taxed at equal rates.
He said the commission will not make any rulings until it has held hearings on every tax abatement.
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