CANTON – A large gathering of residents showed up for a public hearing on property taxes at Canton Municipal Center at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The property owners came to question why there had been such a sharp rise in taxes on shore-front property.
Michael O’Donnell of John E. O’Donnell & Associates, the property assessor hired by the town, explained that state law requires property to be assessed at “fair market value” and that the state penalizes towns if their assessments depart excessively from this goal.
Since it has been many years since Canton has reassessed properties, the change in valuation, especially for shore-front property, surprised many.
O’Donnell explained that his company developed a formula and tables that were used to arrive at the estimated value of property. He said that where defects in a particular piece of property – such as the condition of the structure or limited parking – made it worth less than the calculated value, correction factors were applied. He indicated that while a few properties may be improperly assessed, the system was sound and, overall, worked well.
When the initial valuations were developed, citizens were given an opportunity to provide O’Donnell representatives with information that the company may not have known. Now that the assessments have been approved and tax bills have been sent, their only recourse is to apply for an abatement. In this formal process, property owners can provide the selectmen with evidence that their property is overvalued and should have a lower assessment. The selectmen’s decision can be appealed to the county commissioners and the state.
At 7 p.m., while O’Donnell continued to answer specific questions from the audience, the selectmen adjourned to another room for their regular meeting. Items related to relocation from the flood zone occupied most of their attention.
A “salvage policy” was discussed. The town will advertise for bids on the right to salvage usable material from the houses it will be demolishing in the flood plain.
The board is considering retaining in escrow a portion of the purchase price for these houses to cover the cost of removing any trash left behind by the residents.
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