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Assessor defends 2012 waterfront increases; state reviewer finds adjustments met standards
Summary
At a Sept. 23, 2013 Board of Assessment Review hearing, Scarborough's assessor summarized neighborhood sales studies and defended land-value raises in Higgins Beach, Pine Point and Pillsbury Shores. Appellants questioned use of older sales and comparables; the board recessed and scheduled further sessions.
Paul Les, special deputy assessor for Scarborough, testified on Sept. 23 that his 2012 neighborhood adjustments to waterfront land values were made to correct longstanding disparities and to bring those neighborhoods closer to parity with the rest of town. Les said he had tracked sales since the 2005 revaluation and applied neighborhood-specific increases (20% at Higgins Beach, 25% at Pine Point and a roughly 17% land adjustment for interior Pillsbury Shores) to move waterfront ratios toward 100% of market.
Les told the board that, before the 2012 adjustments, waterfront neighborhoods had lagged townwide assessments by wide margins: for example, he said Pine Point waterfront averaged about 81% of market on April 1, 2011 and rose to about 97% after the 2012 adjustments. "I felt that I was being conservative at increasing at 20%," Les said of his Higgins Beach change, adding that he left a cushion below 100% so the town would not be at an extreme if the market turned.
Why it mattered: Les said the adjustments did not increase the town's overall levy; they reallocated the tax burden among properties so assessments would be more equitable. "This didn't raise one extra dollar for the town," he said, explaining that the town budget was set by council and the assessor's work only changed relative shares among parcels.
Appellants' counsel challenged the choice and timing of comparables and the use of older sales across a period that included the Great Recession. Counsel put multiple state valuation studies and exhibits to Les and argued that relying on sales from 2006—2008 could be improper if the market changed materially. Les responded that Scarborough's market showed limited recessionary decline and that his neighborhood-level practice is to use local, segmented sales series (not townwide mixes) to reflect separate waterfront markets.
State review and validation: The town introduced Bill Healey, the town's newer full-time assessor who reviewed the Maine Revenue Services analysis of the 2012 revaluation (Town Exhibit T10). Healey explained the state's methodology: use a July 1—June 30 sales window, segregate sales into combined, residential, waterfront/water-influence and condominium studies, discard outlier tails and compute an average ratio and a quality rating (coefficient of dispersion). He said the state's review of the 2012 changes showed improved parity and quality ratings in the waterfront studies and that a later validation window (July 1, 2012—June 30, 2013) produced sales that generally supported Les's adjustments.
What was disputed: Appellants emphasized that the share of waterfront sales within +/-10% of assessed value in some state reports was lower than for residential sales and questioned whether the state's broader "waterfront/water-influence" grouping masks local neighborhood differences. Les and Healey countered that the statutory metric is the quality rating (state standard: 20 or less) and that, by that measure, the town's studies met or approached the state's standards after the 2012 adjustments.
Next steps: The board recessed at the end of the evening and agreed to continue the hearing on proposed dates in October to finish cross-examination and receive remaining testimony. The board made no final determination on the merits of the appeals during this session.
Quotes: "I felt that I was being conservative at increasing at 20%," Paul Les said about Higgins Beach adjustments. "This didn't raise one extra dollar for the town," Les added, describing the reallocation effect. Bill Healey said the state's segregated studies and a follow-up sales window "validated" that many of the 2012 adjustments moved neighborhood ratios closer to parity.
Authorities and exhibits: The hearing record repeatedly cites Maine statutes and state valuation reports used in town and state sales-ratio studies (transcript references to Title 36, sections 326 and 327). The town offered Town Exhibits T4/T4A (state valuation summaries), T5A/B/C (neighborhood sales summaries), T6 (memoranda on commitments), and T10 (state review of the 2012 assessments). Appellants introduced recalculations and re-selections of comparables (exhibits including A30, A37—A39, A43).
Ending: No votes or final rulings were taken on appeals at the Sept. 23 session; the board set follow-up hearing dates to continue cross-examination and additional testimony.
