by Eugene Reed
The Property Appraisal division of the State of New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration will have lost the top 3 members of their management staff by the end of this month. First the departure of the Assistant Director, then the Director, and now at the end of this month the Tax Adviser to the Division.
The role of the DRA’s Property Appraisal Division is an important part of statewide assessing and taxation of all properties to which a tax is applied or exempted from taxation. The Division provides the only “oversight” of municipalities’ property assessment processes and certification of Assessors.
According to the DRA website, the Division provides the following:
The Property Appraisal Division oversees the Assessment Review and Equalization bureaus and has the responsibility of:
– Monitoring revaluations and revaluation contracts
– Timber and Gravel Excavation Assistance
– Assessing Standards, Current Use, and Equalization Standards Boards administrative assistance
– Reporting on a variety of assessment information at ìindividual, municipal and/or statewide levels.
Assessment Review (Certification) Bureau: Reviews the assessing practices of each NH municipality over a five year cycle to ensure compliance with applicable statutes and rules in the context of the Assessing Standards Board’s Guidelines on Assessing Practices. Although the departure of these key people was for the reason of scheduled retirement, which is preceded by the normal notifications and paper signing, there have been no replacements named yet. (according to the DRA website).
The Director position is filled by a temporary appointment from within the DRA. The Assistant Director’s office remains empty. No DRA announcement has been made about permanently filling the Director, Assistant Director or the soon-to-be-vacant Tax Adviser position.
One might question if there are enough qualified people within the DRA or if the passage of time will permit a talent search from outside the DRA. Either way, the people of the State deserve (and pay for) the uninterrupted oversight by their State government upon the under regulated assessing practices of municipal governments.
Various statewide assessing problems were highlighted in the 2001 Sirrell case. The NH State Supreme Court case singled out both the DRA and state-wide assessing practices as flawed and in need of overhaul. In the following 6 years the revamping of rules, laws, and oversight to provide open and explainable (transparent) assessing has been very slow and some claim, a largely ineffective process. To what degree the key DRA vacancies will impact oversight and enforcement of already weak, (or non-existent) property assessing rules and laws is not known.