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Select Board schedules follow‑up after landowner seeks abatement over longstanding assessment on 141‑acre parcel
Summary
A New Road property owner told the Select Board he believes his 141‑acre parcel was mistakenly coded as buildable during a conversion to digital tax cards and seeks a refund or credit; the board asked the assessor to supply corrected figures and invited the owner back to the next meeting.
Property owner Paul (last name recorded in town files as Odette) asked the Canterbury Select Board to correct what he says is a decades‑old assessment error on a 141‑acre parcel on New Road and to refund alleged overpayments.
Odette said the town converted tax cards from paper to electronic around 2005 and the parcel was entered and coded as buildable, although he contends it was not. He said he only discovered the issue while attempting to sell the parcel in 2024 and estimates he has overpaid “probably around $40,000,” but did not give a formal requested amount to the board.
Mandy, the town assessor, provided a written summary of revaluations and told the board she corrected the 2024 assessment but that the corrected amount differed from Odette’s expectations. The record shows revaluations occurred in 2011, 2016 and 2021; the average assessed value over that period was noted in assessor documents she shared with the board.
Board members and staff discussed process and precedent. The assessor’s written guidance attached to the packet advised the owner to establish “good cause” for an abatement and noted that abatements are typically considered in the tax year in question and where a municipal error in valuation can be shown. The board noted they have not previously seen an abatement that seeks recalculation across multiple years absent demonstrated municipal error.
Select Board members asked Mandy to compute the numeric tax difference and provide Odette with the amount to support his request. The board asked Odette to return to the next meeting with any supplemental documents he wants considered; staff also agreed to forward assessor calculations to him before the next meeting.
Ending — Next steps: Town staff will request a numerical calculation of the corrected tax liability from the assessor and send it to Odette; Odette will appear at the board’s next meeting to present any additional evidence and to state a formal abatement amount.
