CLAREMONT Comments

TAX ABATEMENTS

^{If you have filed abatement papers with the local Claremont Assessor's Office and are waiting for an answer, take heed and read this. This year your abatement will probably be handled by the city’s interim appraiser and assessor. The available forms "paper work" is in the same form needed to carry your abatement past the local Claremont office if that is desired. That is, if you decide the local assessor’s denial of your abatement appeal is unfair and you wish to appeal to a higher body.}

^{Your local abatement request must be answered by July 1 by the local assessor. If one decides to appeal to a higher body, one has two choices: superior court or the state tax court, which is a state agency [Fn-1] in Concord known as the BTLA. In either choice, you will be entering the legal procedures world and things will get more complicated and time consuming. Figure on a year to three years, in either choice, before your case is heard and ruled on. Also consider that, unless you’re so inclined to navigate through the procedural legal maize, the cost of document prep assistance plus time will most often outweigh your potential abatement savings. City advantage One.}

^{As envisioned, the BTLA  route may be more citizen negotiable friendly, but you definitely will be dealing with a state agency that is inherently biased toward supporting the local assessor. The BTLA is just like court and the city will mount a legal based defense of their actions against you. The situation will change from what in your mind is a "request for fairness" to one of adversary parties. City advantage Two.}

^{Another thing to keep in mind is that once you file locally for abatement, the assessor will attempt to inspect your property; that is, focus on your home turf. If that is a sensitive privacy issue with you, the city holds the "ace of spades" because any denial (past or future) of inspection will set your appeal up for a summary abatement denial or a summary appeal dismissal. Summary means you’re not inclined to be heard or given a chance to state your views. Privacy doesn’t seem to amount too much in New Hampshire when it comes to tax assessing. City advantage Three.  [Fn-2]}