OXFORD — One year after Oxford property owners were handed new real estate assessments that reset values townwide, the wave of tax abatement applications continue to come before the Select Board.
Selectmen reviewed 10 requests at Thursday night’s meeting. Of those, two were denied, seven were approved and one was tabled at assessor Colleen Halse’s recommendation. The adjustments totaled $894.08.
Halse told the board that she has processed most of the requests; however some are still pending and a few are proving more problematic to resolve.
One property owner on Marshall Pond said in her abatement application that the camp she was assessed for does not belong to her.
“She said she did not know who it belongs to,” Halse said. “I asked if she had pictures of her camp, and she said no. I’ve started sending letters out to others asking if they can identify the camp, but so far there’s been nothing useful. If her camp isn’t correct then neither is someone else’s, but no one has spoken up. I’m still working on it.
Another is on hold because the owners provided an abatement application “but did not give me what I consider sufficient information to be able to make the changes they ask. Others I’m still making my way through, but they’ve been pretty straightforward so far,” Halse said
While a spike in abatement requests was expected following the revaluation, Halse said they were compounded by a number of data entry orders as the records were updated last summer. She said she is in the process of migrating property data from the previous software platform Oxford used, TRIO, to a new system, AssessPro, which will eliminate manual data entry and eliminate chance for error.
Sewer Department Superintendent Zhenya Shevchenko reported that his department is operating smoothly after annual maintenance and upgrades. Routine samples required by the Environmental Protection Agency have been completed and are being sent to the agency for testing.
Shevchenko added that he has received 21 applications from property owners looking to tie into the public sewer system, five of which are still pending.
Last year, Oxford instituted a grant-based loan program that allows residents to sign up for public sewer, along with a guidebook listing qualified contractors to hire. The program is set to expire this summer but may be continued as long as funds are available.
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