STONEHAM – A subdivision property owner said Monday that assessments in town are flawed and a revaluation is needed.

Gail Meka spoke before the Oxford County Board of Assessment Review on behalf of eight property owners on the Harding Hill subdivision, requesting tax abatements for the 2007 assessments. Meka and Harding Hill resident Joe Grillo have also requested abatements from 2005.

The county board denied abatements to 12 property owners for the 2006 assessments in May 2007. Selectmen in Stoneham also act as the town’s assessors.

Meka said the residents will persist with abatement requests until there is “fair and equitable assessment in the town of Stoneham.”

Meka argued that Harding Hill is assessed based on excellent, favorable, or minimal sales, a category different from the “one size fits all” method used in the rest of the town. She said Harding Hill properties are paying an unjust portion of taxes while waterfront and other properties are underassessed.

“This is more of a townwide problem than just a Harding Hill problem,” Meka said.

Meka said she was assessed $155,604 for one acre, while an abutting 20-acre parcel was assessed at $24,750.

Town attorney Bill Dale said the county board must determine whether the eight lots were assessed differently from other lots on Harding Hill or in town, and if discrimination occurred in the assessments.

Selectman John Collins said the board annually visits all new properties in town starting on April 1, and visits properties on an approximately four-year cycle to update assessments. Collins said the assessments are based on market data.

Collins said the property abutting Meka’s land has a steep slope, which would inhibit development, and so it is assessed as woodland. He said a comparison of probable sales versus assessed value for five properties in town gave an average sales ratio of 83.7 percent, while four properties on Harding Hill average at 60.8 percent.

“I ask you, where’s the discrimination?” Collins said.

Meka argued that the properties were “cherry-picked” to create the result.

Collins said waterfront assessments are always in flux, noting how the assessment of his own waterfront property increased from $49,000 in 2006 to $61,000 in 2007. He said the town voted to set aside money if the revaluation is approved by the town.

“I am opposed to us spending $40,000 because eight property owners out of 500 are unhappy with their assessments,” Collins said.

The county board will decide whether to award abatements in the 2005 and 2007 assessments at 1 p.m. July 14 at the Oxford County courthouse.