Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post - entire Laconia Board of Assessors quits over Vision Appraisal's valuations

twoplustwo · 12-02-2010, 05:47 AM

Is there a town that has paid Vision for a re-val that has been happy about it??

From today's Citizen:

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...685/-1/CITIZEN

The three members of the Laconia Board of Assessors have resigned en masse, citing their displeasure with Vision Appraisal's recent re-evaluation of the city's 10,000-plus taxable parcels.

In a tersely worded letter to City Manager Eileen Cabanel, the board Chaired by Robert Scharn state, "We as a board are unhappy and do not agree with the values that Vision Appraisal submitted to the city. They met with us to answer questions that we as a board had, and to no avail, got no answers. We feel that by signing the tax warrant, it goes against our commitment to the community to be fair and honest. For these reasons, we are resigning."

Scharn did not return a telephone message seeking comment, and board member James Saltmarsh's phone number is unlisted. But fellow board member Sheryl Foss, a professional real estate appraiser with 24 years of experience said, "From day one when we saw those (preliminary) values we didn't agree with them."

She believes many of the properties in her own neighborhood have been undervalued stressing that homeowners aren't likely to complain.

Foss said the assessing board met with Vision Appraisal and expressed their concerns, but said, company representatives never came back for a follow-up meeting. Instead, Foss said, City Assessor John Duhamel gave her a list of sold properties in her neighborhood that were used by Vision to set the values of other nearby properties.

"Was I happy with the list, not by a long shot," Foss said. She believes some city properties are assessed too low and that others are too high.

In the wake of the resignations, an emergency meeting of the three alternates on the Board of Assessors was called Wednesday night. The three alternate board members, Mike Randall, Debbie Cotton and Tom Daigneault were unaware of the resignations when they arrived at the meeting.

Cabanel apologized to the three alternates and then explained that said had talked with all three members of the Board of Assessors after receiving a copy of their resignation letter that was hand-delivered to City Hall on Monday. She told the Wednesday evening's meeting that two of the assessors are upset because they believe Vision's values are too low. The third member, according to Cabanel, had no opinion on the values, but resigned out of a sense of solidarity with the other members.

The city manager said one board member expressed concern that their neighborhood was assessed too low and as a result suspected the rest of the city would follow suit. A second board member felt commercial and waterfront property values had been set too low. Cabanel stressed that none of the assessors were able to give her concrete examples of properties they thought were under-assessed.

"This is an important thing we did," Cabanel said of the $350,000 full reassessment that was completed by Vision Appraisal. It marks the first time a complete re-evaluation was done in the city in 20 years. Typically, yearly updates have been completed by the city assessor and staff. Despite the resignations, Cabanel said city tax bills had already been mailed with most arriving on Wednesday.

The manager explained that she had invited representatives of Vision Appraisal and the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration to attend the session and help explain the processes they use.

Vision project manager Paul McKenney explained the methodology they used in mass appraisal differs from fee appraisal which sets value on an individual property versus a group of properties in a particular area.

He said they analyzed data from 528 property sales over a two-year period and ultimately used one year of sales data to set their model using statistical methods.

Because there were only five sales logged of vacant land, McKenney explained Vision used a method where structural improvements were backed out resulting in a land value being determined.

"We check (our numbers) in many different ways. We want them all to sync," he said.

He said Laconia now has a 95 percent assessment to sales ratio meaning that a property would sell for 95 percent of its assessed value. He also said the city's coefficient of dispersion (COD) is 15 percent which shows how close their data set is to the median. He said the re-evaluation showed that residential values in the city had declined nine percent compared to the prior year, mobile homes went down 19 percent, condominium values declined by 10 percent, waterfront down 4 percent and commercial properties down three percent. Overall assessed valuation of the city fell by $193 million compared to 2009.

Stephan Hamilton an auditor with the DRA's appraisal division told the gathering mass appraisal is not an easy thing to do, especially when there is not a lot of sales data available.

He said there will always be dispersion explaining the process essentially develops a mathematical formula that predicts the value of property.

Last year, Hamilton said multifamily properties were "vastly overvalued" in Laconia, noting the Vision's latest work corrects the problem and levels the playing field for taxpayers.

"There is nothing to indicate that the standard methodology wasn't used," Hamilton said, but stopped short of guaranteeing the accuracy of the re-evaluation.

"There is nothing that indicates to me there should be any concern," he said, explaining that while the state has overseen Vision's work in Laconia, the state had not yet finished its final analysis.

"I'm looking to receive some assurance that there is some level of comfort that the assessments we have are proportional," Randall said.

"I would say they are. I am comfortable with what I've seen so far, and I've been doing this for 20 years," responded Chuck Reese who has been supervising Vision's work for the state.

"The re-evaluation will ultimately give the (assessing) board a better leg to stand on," he said.

Following the presentation, Randall asked Cabanel what the consequences would be if the assessing board declined to sign the tax warrant.

"We will not be able to collect taxes," Cabanel responded.

Earlier, board member Debbie Cotton said she believed that there were still some "disparities in values" in some of the city's assessments especially among similar homes. She said her signature on the warrant should not be construed as an endorsement of the re-evaluation.

Randall made similar comments saying his signature was "neither praising nor condoning" the appraisals but rather an indication "that the consequences were too great not to sign."

Randall made the motion to sign the warrant and Daigneault seconded. The board ultimately voted unanimously to sign it.

12-02-2010, 05:47 AM	#1
twoplustwo Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 456 Thanks: 51 Thanked 39 Times in 21 Posts	entire Laconia Board of Assessors quits over Vision Appraisal's valuations Is there a town that has paid Vision for a re-val that has been happy about it?? From today's Citizen: http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...685/-1/CITIZEN The three members of the Laconia Board of Assessors have resigned en masse, citing their displeasure with Vision Appraisal's recent re-evaluation of the city's 10,000-plus taxable parcels. In a tersely worded letter to City Manager Eileen Cabanel, the board Chaired by Robert Scharn state, "We as a board are unhappy and do not agree with the values that Vision Appraisal submitted to the city. They met with us to answer questions that we as a board had, and to no avail, got no answers. We feel that by signing the tax warrant, it goes against our commitment to the community to be fair and honest. For these reasons, we are resigning." Scharn did not return a telephone message seeking comment, and board member James Saltmarsh's phone number is unlisted. But fellow board member Sheryl Foss, a professional real estate appraiser with 24 years of experience said, "From day one when we saw those (preliminary) values we didn't agree with them." She believes many of the properties in her own neighborhood have been undervalued stressing that homeowners aren't likely to complain. Foss said the assessing board met with Vision Appraisal and expressed their concerns, but said, company representatives never came back for a follow-up meeting. Instead, Foss said, City Assessor John Duhamel gave her a list of sold properties in her neighborhood that were used by Vision to set the values of other nearby properties. "Was I happy with the list, not by a long shot," Foss said. She believes some city properties are assessed too low and that others are too high. In the wake of the resignations, an emergency meeting of the three alternates on the Board of Assessors was called Wednesday night. The three alternate board members, Mike Randall, Debbie Cotton and Tom Daigneault were unaware of the resignations when they arrived at the meeting. Cabanel apologized to the three alternates and then explained that said had talked with all three members of the Board of Assessors after receiving a copy of their resignation letter that was hand-delivered to City Hall on Monday. She told the Wednesday evening's meeting that two of the assessors are upset because they believe Vision's values are too low. The third member, according to Cabanel, had no opinion on the values, but resigned out of a sense of solidarity with the other members. The city manager said one board member expressed concern that their neighborhood was assessed too low and as a result suspected the rest of the city would follow suit. A second board member felt commercial and waterfront property values had been set too low. Cabanel stressed that none of the assessors were able to give her concrete examples of properties they thought were under-assessed. "This is an important thing we did," Cabanel said of the $350,000 full reassessment that was completed by Vision Appraisal. It marks the first time a complete re-evaluation was done in the city in 20 years. Typically, yearly updates have been completed by the city assessor and staff. Despite the resignations, Cabanel said city tax bills had already been mailed with most arriving on Wednesday. The manager explained that she had invited representatives of Vision Appraisal and the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration to attend the session and help explain the processes they use. Vision project manager Paul McKenney explained the methodology they used in mass appraisal differs from fee appraisal which sets value on an individual property versus a group of properties in a particular area. He said they analyzed data from 528 property sales over a two-year period and ultimately used one year of sales data to set their model using statistical methods. Because there were only five sales logged of vacant land, McKenney explained Vision used a method where structural improvements were backed out resulting in a land value being determined. "We check (our numbers) in many different ways. We want them all to sync," he said. He said Laconia now has a 95 percent assessment to sales ratio meaning that a property would sell for 95 percent of its assessed value. He also said the city's coefficient of dispersion (COD) is 15 percent which shows how close their data set is to the median. He said the re-evaluation showed that residential values in the city had declined nine percent compared to the prior year, mobile homes went down 19 percent, condominium values declined by 10 percent, waterfront down 4 percent and commercial properties down three percent. Overall assessed valuation of the city fell by $193 million compared to 2009. Stephan Hamilton an auditor with the DRA's appraisal division told the gathering mass appraisal is not an easy thing to do, especially when there is not a lot of sales data available. He said there will always be dispersion explaining the process essentially develops a mathematical formula that predicts the value of property. Last year, Hamilton said multifamily properties were "vastly overvalued" in Laconia, noting the Vision's latest work corrects the problem and levels the playing field for taxpayers. "There is nothing to indicate that the standard methodology wasn't used," Hamilton said, but stopped short of guaranteeing the accuracy of the re-evaluation. "There is nothing that indicates to me there should be any concern," he said, explaining that while the state has overseen Vision's work in Laconia, the state had not yet finished its final analysis. "I'm looking to receive some assurance that there is some level of comfort that the assessments we have are proportional," Randall said. "I would say they are. I am comfortable with what I've seen so far, and I've been doing this for 20 years," responded Chuck Reese who has been supervising Vision's work for the state. "The re-evaluation will ultimately give the (assessing) board a better leg to stand on," he said. Following the presentation, Randall asked Cabanel what the consequences would be if the assessing board declined to sign the tax warrant. "We will not be able to collect taxes," Cabanel responded. Earlier, board member Debbie Cotton said she believed that there were still some "disparities in values" in some of the city's assessments especially among similar homes. She said her signature on the warrant should not be construed as an endorsement of the re-evaluation. Randall made similar comments saying his signature was "neither praising nor condoning" the appraisals but rather an indication "that the consequences were too great not to sign." Randall made the motion to sign the warrant and Daigneault seconded. The board ultimately voted unanimously to sign it.