New Hampshire town rejects order by state to use ‘view tax’ assessment

CONCORD, N.H. – Orford selectmen are defying a state order to use updated property-tax assessments that include valuable views on some land.

The townwide revaluation by Avitar Associates of New England found that views added $100,000 or more to the value of some properties, leading to protests against what some called a “view tax.”

This month, the state Board of Tax and Land Appeals ordered the town to use the new revaluation instead of the previous one, performed in 1997, because state law requires towns to update their assessments every five years. The board also ordered Avitar to provide more justification for the values it assigned to views.

Last week, however, two of the three Orford selectmen voted to reject the new revaluation.

Selectman Paul Carreiro said Monday that although the board’s order was a “step in the right direction,” the revaluation remains deeply flawed. He also wants state agencies to follow through on the order and set clear standards for valuing views.

“Now people in Orford are really in a Catch-22 situation where they’re going to have to come to the table, pay the tax money, and then they’re going to have to wait for the abatement process to go through to see if they’re going to get any money back,” he said. “The process should be tightened up prior to putting the property owners through that.”

The board apparently anticipated the move, saying that if Orford refused to certify the new valuation, the board would impose it so the new values would be used to set Orford’s tax rate.

Joan Gootee, who reviews reassessments and appraisals for the board, could recall only one other instance of a town defying it. That was in 2000, when Sandown voters failed to approve funding for a revaluation.

“It’s in blatant disregard of this board,” she said.

She also said the move could backfire, because the selectmen will give up any say in the final revaluation, which will be handled by the state.

State law says taxes must be based on a property’s fair market value. State officials say views have always contributed to value; the only change is that now they have become so valuable in some towns that assessors are giving them a separate line on appraisal forms.

Carreiro, however, says a lack of standards makes it impossible for property owners to determine whether they’ve been assessed fairly.

“To say that a view over an apple orchard is not worth any money and a view over a waterfall is not worth any money, without defining a view or giving us any criteria … I feel the entire revaluation is flawed,” he said.

Selectman David Bischoff, who also voted against the new valuation, could not be reached for comment Monday. A one-room cabin he owns in a remote cow pasture that is two miles from the nearest electric line and has no phone service, no water and no septic system, was valued at $22,900 – plus $140,000 for its view of nearby hills and distant mountains.