Dec

19

CNHT eBlast 12/19/2006

Filed Under Assessing, CNHT eBlasts | Comments Off

Gary Rayno Lays An Eggo

The much anticipated “explanation” of the View Tax will have to wait a while because NH Sunday News reporter, Gary Rayno, who sat like a lump through the Assessing Standards Board Meeting in Concord Wednesday regurgitated the Boards line about there being no View Tax.

What a shame.

He did not add to his story the juicy stuff like this tax is the creation of an assessing board that formerly consisted of up to 75% assessors.

One of which WAS Gary Roberge, head of AVITAR Assessing.

The View Tax software of AVITAR the state’s largest assessing firm who’s software has had other “glitches” such as assessing small lots of land at five times their real value. Or that Avitar doesn’t quite follow the Assessing Standards Board’s own rules if they don’t feel like it.

Or how about the way the View Tax is adopted as law?

Is the View tax an act of the Legislature - NO.

Did town legislative bodies create it - NO.

Selectmen, Town Councilors, Aldermen - NO.

It came from a BUREAUCRACY.

The View Tax is the creation of :

CHAPTER 21-J
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE ADMINISTRATION
General Provisions
Section 21-J:1
21-J:1 Establishment; General Functions. –
I. There is established the department of revenue administration, an agency of the state, under the executive direction of a commissioner of revenue administration.
II. The department of revenue administration, through its officials, shall be responsible for the following general functions:
(a) Overseeing the collection of state taxes, assigned by specific tax law.
(b) Providing information collected through tax administration activities to the governor and general court for public policy decisions. This information shall not include material which identifies, or permits identification of, particular taxpayers.
(c) Establishing a uniform system of financial reports and accounting for the state’s political subdivisions.

Source. 1985, 204:1. 1987, 109:3, eff. July 5, 1987; 408:3, eff. May 26, 1987.

THIS is why the ASB is so hot to trot about NOT having people think they created a new tax WHEN THEY in fact DID!

Administrative Rule Chapter 600 is the “LAW” that supplies the structure for assessors to follow while assessing property in NH. It can be found on the CNHT Web site in the Blue Field. Scroll down to REV after you click on Rule 600 and you will go to the dept. of Rev. site. Then just scroll down to 600.

Taxpayers in NH have to start being aware of what is going on in their community because there is an effort by income taxers in the Legislature and the news media to quietly move to pass any broad based tax they can get.

The property tax is not going away with any broad-based tax.

The same people who pulled this stunt will be glad to administer an income or sales tax as well. Get it?

We need to control spending and out of control assessors who police themselves.

Ed Naile, CNHT

Dec

6

CNHT eBlast 12/06/2006

Filed Under CNHT eBlasts | Comments Off

Thanks to Rep. Paul Hopfgarten and State Senator Jack Barnes!! Rep Hopfgarten, a former CNHT Director, has sponsored legislation, along with Sen Barnes, a rabid Red Sox fan, that would tighten up RSA 31:5 the emergency meeting statute so that over-eager selectmen like the ones in Peterborough can not go out and put a $50,000 deposit on a $1.6 million dollar piece of boondoggle property that could have cost up to $6 million to upgrade – BY SPECIAL EMERGENCY MEETING!! On top of that the voters in Peterborough recently voted to adopt RSA 41:14-a to further limit the ability of selectmen to do this, which the court promptly ignored when it gave permission for an “emergency” Special Meeting last month. In any case the selectmen reversed their decision when they looked closer at the deal. Our new legislation will help the next town’s taxpayers. Thanks to the Peterborough activists for doing the groundwork and CNHT Vice Chair Howard Dilworth for the bill’s wording.

We have a most heart-wrenching AP Wire Service story about the people in south west NH who still are not back in their homes after the floods last year. Norma Love is the “reporter” on this piece.

The story goes on about financial problems residents are still having such as insurance running out and the article talks about some efforts being made by State Senator Ted Gatsas to help people with state aid.

So here we are in the middle of winter a year after the floods with one single mom cooking outside on a gas grill and having to shower at a friend’s house.

And wouldn’t you know it! No mention of our heroic Governor. My how things have changed since the Gov. was last on TV in his little yellow rain slicker running around campaign-helping during the flood and handing out his home phone number. That made big news. Nice job covering his butt now Norma! What, no “Lynch Mum On Flood Help” title? (Sorry Norma, Colin Manning of Fosters already got the press job with Lynch.)

Sanbornton, Tilton, and Northfield taxpayers wake up! Your selectmen are trying to get an RSA 32 Budget Committee placed by warrant article on the Winnisquam School District Annual Meeting to control costs. You need to get active and support having a second set of eyes looking over your school spending. The Selectmen are to be commended for doing this and need signatures on the petitions and people to vote for it and run for the open seats.

A NY transplant, moobat Democrat named James E. Kennedy, just elected to the House from Exeter has placed an INCOME tax on the list of new House legislation. Liberal papers are waxing “dismayed’ by the action as it will FOSTER debate about who really believes Democrats are not TELEGRAPHING their true intentions. We will MONITOR the story for you.

Income taxers all over NH are writing letters to the editor about oppressive property taxes. They seem to think the mood and time is right for more taxes. We need to respond with the fact that along with unbridled spending, we have a suspect property tax assessment program at the state level where assessing firms can take advantage of towns and taxpayers and feel safe from State action. No broad based tax is going to make the “View Tax” go away. Voters need to do that ourselves because the State will not enforce the law. Selectmen have to hold assessors bonds until assessments are based on market value not suspect formulas.

Ed Naile
Chair, CNHT