Valley News – Claremont City Council disbands Board of Assessors | #citycouncil

CLAREMONT — The Board of Assessors, created out of a controversy that erupted at City Council meetings four years ago, was disbanded by the council Wednesday night with no public comment,

In a 7-2 vote, the council approved a revised ordinance to the city code that returns all assessing authority and duties, including abatements, to the city’s assessing department, which is how it was before the three-member board was established in March 2019. The ordinance also addresses the issue that caused the controversy in the summer of 2018, when the assessor at the time, acting within his authority, granted a tax abatement of $220,000 on a Mulberry Street property and reduced the property’s assessment by 75%.

Under the new ordinance, which takes effect immediately, the assessing department will submit regular reports to the council on abatements filed and appealed with the goal of avoiding a repeat of what occurred with the Topstone Building.

Assessor Stephan Hamilton, who did not work for the city at the time of the controversy, told the council that what led to the creation of a board of assessors was partially because of the concentration of authority in the assessing office but primarily because of the breakdown of communication between assessing and the council.

“These regular communications and regular reports of abatements that are pending, appeals that have been filed and the disposition of any of those actions will meet the challenge of communication,” Hamilton said, referring to a section of the revised ordinance.

The council, though it has no authority over the assessing or the abatement process and was not required to be informed of the decision in 2018, was nonetheless criticized for not being aware of the tax abatement and assessing reduction on the Topstone Building, which had been discussed in council meetings because of contamination around the site of the five-story former mill building. Former City Manager Ryan McNutt said in 2018 the tax abatement and assessment reduction were the best option for possible redevelopment of the site.

The controversy pressured the council into approving a revised ordinance in March 2019 that established the board with the aim of making the abatement process more transparent. However, Hamilton told the council to sit on the board requires a specialized skill set, and the city was having a difficult time recruiting and retaining members. At its last meeting on Aug. 30, there were just two members. Hamilton said they did not object to repealing the board’s existence.

Councilors William Limoges and Jonathan Stone voted against the new ordinance.

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.