If You Feel Your Assessment Is Unfair 



By Richard Emerson 



^^^^^^ roperty taxes have become 

 ^H^^^a major concern for all 

 ^^^^^P greenhouse owners. In the 

 ^^^^^^last issue there was exten- 

 ^^^^^sive coverage of how prop- 

 yl erty taxes may be set in your com- 

 munity. This issue will deal with the 

 specific steps that must be taken if you 

 should feel that the appraisal which has 

 been set on your greenhouses is unrea- 

 sonable. There are also set time limits 

 which have to be adhered to. 



Your first step is to make an appoint- 

 ment with the company who did the 

 appraisal for the town. These hearings 

 are set up in your town or city. This is 

 your chance to get a look at your file to 

 see how the figures were arrived at. If 

 you do not agree or reach an under- 

 standing at this time, you pass on to the 

 second step. 



Your second step is to file for an 

 abatement from the town. A form can be 

 picked up from the Building Codes Of- 

 ficer in your town. Simply fill this out, 

 return it within the specified period and 

 the selectmen now become involved in 

 the process. 



At this point I should note that not 

 only are you working within a specified 

 time period but so are the selectmen. 

 You should now contact the State Board 

 of Tax and Land Appeals. They will 



send you a form to file with the state and 

 also a booklet explaining all the laws 

 governing this process and the time 

 frame everyone is supposed to work 

 within. There is a fee involved in this 

 part of the process. 



If you still are unhappy with your as- 

 sessment and you have filed your form 

 with the state, you now sit back and wait 

 for an assessor from the state to visit 

 you. This is a long process (about 9-12 

 months). During this time you must pay 

 your property taxes. 



Once the state assessor visits you he 

 will make a recommendation with the 

 State Land and Tax Appeals Board for 

 a hearing. When a date is set for this, 

 you will have a hearing with not only 

 theStateBoardbutalsoamemberofihe 

 company that did the appraisal as well 

 as an officer from your town will be 

 present. Hopefully a settlement fair to 

 all involved will be reached at this time. 



Your final chance of satisfaction is 

 with the courts. Hopefully you will never 

 reach this point. The sooner in the proc- 

 ess that a reasonable assessment can be 

 agreed upon the better. The process can 

 be stopped by you at any time. Though 

 you may find it difficult, try not to do 

 battle with the people in your town on a 

 personal level. 



One more point should be made. 



Even though it will cost you money, you 

 should hire a lawyer knowledgeable in 

 this process. He will make sure you 

 understand what, when and why you 

 must do everything that you will have to 

 do in order to reach a successful conclu- 

 sion to the property tax issue. You must 

 make sure that you follow his advice. 

 You can be sure that the other parties in- 

 volved will have legal counsel. Forthese 

 reasons, the money to hire the lawyer 

 should be money well spent. I know the 

 process seems very involved. However, 

 there is one big factor in your favor: 

 going into it, you should know more 

 about greenhouseconstruction and how 

 much you have put into it than anyone 

 else involved in the process. If you fol- 

 low the right procedure and try to be 

 reasonable, things should work out in 

 your favor. It's only right! 



Also, the dates of the 1990 New 

 England Greenhouse Conference are 

 October 22 through October 24. Exten- 

 sive planning has gone into this confer- 

 ence in order to make it interesting and 

 educational for anyone connected to the 

 greenhouse industry. I am sure that you 

 will find itnot only informative butalso 

 entertaining. See you there! 



Richard Emerson owns Emerson Ave- 

 nue Greenhouse in Hampstead, NH. 



Board Meeting Minutes 



Tl September 5, 1990 

 I hemeeting,heldinBartonHall 

 at UNH, Durham, came to 

 order at 7:10. Alan, Chris, Jen- 

 nifer, Kirk, and Richard were 

 there. 

 July ' s minutes and the current fi- 

 nancial report were read and accepted. Cor- 

 respondence was read and discussed. A 

 suggestion by B&E Supply that the associa- 

 tion purchase a photo album in which to 

 keep pictures of its various displays and 

 functions for future reference was seen as a 

 good idea. 



The summer meeting — and ways to 

 improve it in the future — was discussed and 

 plans for the winter meeting were formal - 



The w inter meeting will be held on Janu- 

 ary 17 at the Margate in Laconia. The pro- 

 gram will begin aroimd nine with a brief 

 business meeting. Speakers will include 

 Richard Zoerb from Gloeckners' giving an 

 update on new items being sold in the New 

 England area and Tom March discussing 

 small engine maintenance. The featured 

 speaker will be Donna Singer, an organiza- 

 tional consultant specializing in employee/ 

 management training and human relations 

 in general. Her topic will be geared specifi- 

 cally toward employee/employer and fam- 

 ily situations within the industry. 



There was a general discussion about 

 thePlantgrowers'Associationdisplays — at 

 the New England Greenhouse Conference, 

 the New Hampshire Farm & Forest Show, 

 the Granite State Garden and Flower Show : 

 their usefulness; how to improve them; how 



3 



to get betterpublicity from them. Alan Eves 

 is going to look into buying new panels for 

 the current display. 



There was also a discussion about 

 membership recruitment and it was decided 

 to come up with specific ideas for next 

 month's boardmeeting — which will be held 

 on October 3 at 7:00 in Barton Hall. 



The meeting adjourned at ten. 



Welcome New Members... 



Wales Nurseriss, Inc. 

 P.O. Box 158 Peck Road 

 Wales, MA 01 081 



Dr. Stanley R. Swier 

 Nesmilh Hall 



University of New Hampshire 

 Durham, NH 03824 



