PARIS – Twelve tax abatement requests resulting from a new method of taxing recreational vehicles in Waterford are expected to be settled in September.
The Oxford County commissioners have spent months holding hearings and have visited Keoka Beach Camping Area, where all of the abatement filers keep their RVs year-round. According to county Administrative Assistant Carole Mahoney, the commissioners heard the last abatements on Aug. 16 and have agreed to make a decision at their next meeting in September.
At a June meeting, Waterford Selectman Whizzer Wheeler offered to meet with the abatement filers to see whether an alternative taxation method could be agreed upon.
The meeting “never happened,” Deputy Town Clerk Jennifer Morin reported Monday.
Until 2004, RV owners who stored their vehicles year-round at camping areas were subject only to an excise tax. The new taxation method assumes RVs appreciate in value because they are set up year-round on leased parcels of land, and RVs located closer to water are taxed at higher rates, similar to homes.
The RV owners in question have complained the town assessed their vehicles at a rate above fair market value. They have argued the tax should be based on resale values.
Oxford County Commissioner Steve Merrill has said taxpayers bear the burden of proof in an abatement process and must show a town erred in its assessments.
The commission has to consider whether any glaring errors were made in the assessment process, whether the assessments where based on fair market value, and whether the RVs were taxed at equal rates, he has said.
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