By Angeljean Chiaramida
Staff writer
June 08, 2009 03:59 am SALISBURY — Town officials think they're getting gypped $161,000 by the state for prime beachfront land, and they're not planning to take the insult without a fight. The state Department of Revenue recently posted its preliminary valuation of all state-owned land located in its communities to determine how much each municipality will get in state payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOT funds. Salisbury — which received about $253,000 in PILOT funds last year — is challenging the state's new values, even if it means the serious move of filing a formal appeal before the state Appellate Tax Board. With 1,188 acres of state land in town — including 433 acres of oceanfront land at Salisbury State Beach Reservation — the state is valuing Salisbury's state land for calendar 2009 at about $9.8 million, down 64 percent from the 2008 valuation of $27.4 million, according to Salisbury's Chief Assessor Cheryl Gillespie. Land at the Reservation took a particularly hard hit, she said, with 54 of 62 prime building lots being reclassified down to back land lots. The difference in value, she said, is enormous. "Market value for an oceanfront lot of a quarter acre is $737,000, but the state's value of (reclassification) lots is $8,750," Gillespie said. "A quarter-acre lot across the street from the ocean's market value is $315,000, but DOR has valued them at $3,750. "We expected some market depreciation, but not at the ocean," Gillespie said. "Oceanfront land has not gone down in the real estate market, and Salisbury has 433 acres of state beach at the Reservation." Gillespie expected DOR's valuation to go down after getting a notice from the agency to expect an 11.53 percent depreciation. The state's revenue picture is abysmal and the lower the valuation, the less money the state will have to come up with in PILOT funds. "She said, "11.53 percent down was what we thought was the worse case scenario for us, but not 64 percent down. With so much oceanfront land at the reservation, we don't believe the state's valuation of the town's state-owned property reflects the market." With the new values posted as required by June 1, the state held a public hearing Thursday for communities to comment on the new figures. Gillespie attended with the town counsel, finding officials from Ipswich and West Newbury also at the hearing. Although DOR officials were willing to take comments, they weren't willing to field and answer technical questions, something that upset many at the hearing. Technical questions must be submitted to the agency by Wednesday. It's not much lead time, Gillespie said, but Salisbury will do its best to document its issues with back-up material. The hope is, she said, the state will review the information with an open mind and adjust Salisbury's valuation upward. But one way or the other, DOR must post its final valuations no later than July 20. If Salisbury is still "aggrieved," Gillespie said the town can file a formal appeal with the Appellate Tax Board. Filing that appeal is not beyond the realm of possibility, she said. Although all communities have different situations when it comes to the type and value of state land within their borders, Gillespie was especially disturbed when she looked up valuations of state land in Newburyport, at Maudslay State Park, which fronts the Merrimack River. With 437 acres of riverfront land at the park and credit for 38 buildable lots, the state valued Newburyport's state land at almost $21 million, according to DOR's posted assessments. "Salisbury has 433 acres of beach, of oceanfront land the state valued at $7.3 million, and Newburyport has 437 acres of riverfront land the state valued at almost $21 million," Gillespie said. "You tell me how both of those valuations fairly represent market value?"
—
Copyright © 1999-2010 cnhi, inc.