BTLA will look at Sanbornton again

The petition signed by former selectman Peter Dascoulias and 50 other residents of Sanbornton requesting an examination of the town’s assessment practices seems to have drawn the attention the group desired from the N.H. Board of Tax and Land Appeals (BTLA).

In a letter received by selectmen yesterday, BTLA official Cynthia Brown advised town officials that pursuant to RSA 71-B, the concerns raised by petitioners would be investigated by her agency.

“I will be performing an assessment to sales ratio study primarily using real estate transfers which occurred between April 1, 2005 and the present,” she wrote.

Further, she requested that selectmen make copies of assessment record cards for every sale that has occurred in the town since Oct. 1, 2005 and a copy of the 2003, 2004 and 2005 MS-1 report.

In a letter to the Department of Revenue Administration, Brown requested that she be provided an annual equalization ratio study for the year 2005.

“I’m glad to see they’re taking this seriously,” said Dascoulias, who spent yesterday morning in Belknap Superior Court asking that the town be ordered to comply with a 91-A “Right-to-Know” request for assessment information. “I guess we’ll have to wait now and see what they discover.”