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Select Board approves multiple property tax abatements and several exemptions; charitable request tabled
Summary
Assessor Scott Marsh presented 68 abatements totaling an estimated $6.2 million in value reduction; the board approved multiple individual abatements and exemptions (educational and partial religious) and tabled a charitable exemption for the Canobie Lake Protection Association pending further information.
Assessor Scott Marsh presented a batch of property tax abatement recommendations and exemption requests at the June 29 meeting. Marsh told the board that 68 abatements were filed town-wide and that the total assessed-value reduction across those filings was approximately $6.2 million (about one-tenth of one percent of the town’s total taxable value).
The board approved a series of individual abatement motions, including an $18,230 assessed-value reduction for 105 Londonderry Road, a $69,500 reduction for Map/Lot 5-A-224 (35 Blossom Road), and a $174,600 reduction for Lot 21-K-32 (60 Turtle Rock Road), among several others; each motion passed by a 4-0 vote. The minutes list additional approvals and denials where the assessor recommended denial because owners could not be contacted or adjustments increased assessed value.
Marsh also recommended and the board approved a partial educational exemption for Windham Woods School (39 Roulston Road) to reflect newly qualifying space such as an art studio and nature-trail acreage, and a partial religious exemption for Crossing Life Church properties, while noting portions (operating farm/livestock areas) do not qualify. A new charitable exemption request from the Canobie Lake Protection Association for Lot 22-L-103 was tabled because the application did not demonstrate the statutory charitable test beyond noting a turtle nesting area; the board asked the applicant to appear at a future meeting.
