Is anyone really surprised that Emerald Court would work its way back into the news given the who's who list of the "entitled" that live there? From the selling of Town well fields to a private developer courtesy of our former TM, to these latest developments...this "scam" project was tainted from the get go...glad the "average" residents there are catching on.
From TewksburyPatch:
http://tewksbury.patch.com/articles/eme ... ssessmentsEmerald Court Residents Irked Over Tax Assessments
Thirteen residents attend Selectmen's meeting to complain about tax bill hikes.
By Bill Gilman | Email the author | 11:50am
Will Rogers said the only sure things in life were death and taxes.
The residents of Emerald Court believe it's a sure thing they're being taxed to death.
Thirteen residents, who own small condominium units at Emerald Court, attended the Board of Selectmen meeting Tuesday night with one objective -- to express their displeasure with the process used to assess property values in the community.
According to the residents, their properties have been overvalued because of a fluke in the system used to calculate the assessments. They told selectmen that the recent plunge in the housing market has moved the values of their properties well below the town's assessment figure. The also expressed frustration that larger units on Emerald Court saw their assessment drop significantly.
"We're extremely upset by these assessments," said Jan Urquhart. "One (four-room condo) increased from $322,300 to $351,000. Another from $324,100 to $343,000. And then, there is one of the villas, a single family home, that had its assessment drop from $445,900 to $358,300. How can you justify the assessments of four-room condos going up and these single family homes going down."
Maureen Fabiano, a real estate agent and Emerald Court resident, said the assessments don't mesh with what she is seeing in the market.
"Right now, we're not even getting $300,000 for these (four-room condos)," she said.
"We just want to find some thyme or reason for how the assessments are done," added resident Rich Sardellitti.
Town Manager Richard Montuori and Chief Assessor Jay Kelley addressed the concerns. Montuori stated, as he has previously, that the formula for figuring out assessed values is established by the State Department of Revenue and must be followed as written.
Montuori said he had discussed the Emerald Court situation with Kelley previously, and would again, but that it appeared the assessments were accurate.
Kelley explained that the most recent assessments were based on condo sales in that neighborhood in 2009.
"There were four units sold in 2009," he said. "One for $361,000, one for $342,000, one for $360,000 and one for $380,000. The assessments were based on those sales.
Kelley said there are strong indications that due to a soft market in 2010, the assessments done next year would see a sharp decrease in value. He also admitted that the single family home the residents mentioned, had been assessed at too low a value and that the situation would be addressed next year.
After the meeting, the residents stated that they had already filed abatement applications with the town but did not expect a favorable outcome. They added that, if the abatement requests were rejected by the town, they were ready to follow available recourse options and take their case to the state's Appellate Tax Board.
Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 7:50 am