Assessor reports billing fixes, abatements and estimated $250,000 new growth for Gardiner

Chris Kumar, the city assessor, told the Finance Committee on Aug. 27 that the office closed fiscal-year 2025 and resolved a Munis billing error that incorrectly issued bills to 164 personal-property accounts exempt under the $5,000 threshold; the assessor said those bills were manually abated and the total in question was about $5,500. Kumar said the office mailed 565 personal-property forms (forms of lists) and has received roughly 43% back; 555 income-and-expense forms were mailed to commercial, industrial and multiunit owners with about 38% returned. He said 36 ABC (charitable) applications were mailed and 100% were returned. The assessor reported 11 abatement applications were filed (deadline Feb. 1): eight for real estate and three for personal property; by March 25 the board had acted on all 11 (three real-estate approved, five denied; three personal-property approved) and one denied case is proceeding to the Appellate Tax Board next month. Kumar told the committee he expects new growth of roughly $250,000 and noted the FY26 budget included a conservative $100,000 estimate; the assessor said that difference would appear as a supplemental revenue request during the fall budget process. "We budgeted a 100,000 in the budget," he said, and the higher new-growth estimate would create an additional $150,000 for the city if certified. Other statistics Kumar provided: 518 excise-tax abatements processed since Jan. 1 totaling about $63,000; approximately 309 new deeds or ownership transfers logged; building-permit activity added to property records from 622 permits; 59 commercial/industrial cyclical inspections and 321 residential inspections completed; and continuing education and recertification are on schedule for the assessor's MAA designation. Separately, the committee heard from a mayoral designee that the city issues about 136 veterans'property-tax abatements that the Commonwealth later reimburses at roughly 75% via the cherry sheet; the mayor's office estimated those abatements reduce local tax collections by about $120,000 annually when aggregated. The assessor and auditor said that reimbursement typically arrives on the next fiscal-year cherry sheet, meaning the city is a year behind on the state reimbursement.