STONEHAM – A county board heard arguments Monday in the matter of a three-year-old tax abatement issue regarding a hilltop subdivision.

The Oxford County Board of Assessment Review heard arguments from the town and two residents of the Harding Hill subdivision who contend that their properties were overvalued in 2005. The matter was appealed after county commissioners ruled that the assessment was unfair, and remanded to the county by the Oxford County Superior Court.

Resident Joe Grillo said he was assessed at approximately $69,500 for land he purchased in 2002 for $62,500. Resident Gail Meka was assessed $136,000 for land purchased in 2000 for $120,000. The board of selectmen also acts as the town’s assessors.

Meka said the lots on Harding Hill are assessed based on a classification of excellent, favorable, and minimal sales.

“These categories were not used anywhere else in the town of Stoneham,” Meka said.

Meka argued that Harding Hill is subject to unequal apportionment and that abatements can be awarded based on unjust discrimination. Meka said waterfront properties on Keywadin Lake and Horseshoe Pond were underassessed in comparison to Harding Hill, and that property owners at the subdivision are seeking a consistent assessment method in the town.

The dead-end road to Harding Hill is the last one on left side of Route 5 before entering the town of Lovell.

Town attorney William Dale said the gradation in assessment for Harding Hill was based on a property’s access to views of Kezar Lake and the White Mountains.

“I would respectively say these are not nice views. These are spectacular views,” Dale said.

Board member Jodi Keniston said it is possible for subdivision values to be graded if they are consistent with sales patterns.

“It’s not uncommon with subdivisions to be like that,” Keniston said.

In comparing properties, Meka said 155 acres in Stoneham and 20 acres in Lovell owned by author Stephen King were purchased for $1.8 million in 2002. She said the portion in Stoneham was assessed at $91,000, while the Lovell portion was assessed at $700,000. Meka said the town does not add special assessments for properties abutting national forests or brooks.

Dale said the King property was assessed higher in Lovell because it has frontage on Kezar Lake, while the Stoneham acreage is woodland. He said another comparable property bordering Meka’s property would be too expensive for most landowners to develop.

Stoneham voters approved a revaluation of town properties in July 2007, but Selectman John Collins said the board has been unable to find a firm willing to do the appraisal.

“We are much too small for most of them to be interested in,” he Collins.

The county board will reconvene at 1 p.m. Monday at the Stoneham town office to hear arguments regarding requested 2007 property tax abatements for Harding Hill.