NEWRY — For the third year in a row, selectmen have denied a tax abatement request from Sophia Bilinsky on her vacation home and property that’s assessed for $2.8 million.
Bilinsky, of Kennett Square, Pa., claims it should be assessed at $1.7 million.
Monday’s denial was for a 2011 tax bill of $25,331. She was also denied in 2009 and 2010, and appealed those cases to the Oxford County Board of Assessment Review and Oxford County Superior Court, where she was also denied.
The town and Bilinsky have differed over those years on issues including information on construction costs of the five-year-old home, depreciation, the grade (quality of finish) and square footage.
Bilinsky and her lawyer, Jarrod Crockett, continued the debate recently with Newry assessor Bob Gingras and town attorney Chris Nagel.
They also discussed the amount of homeowners insurance Bilinsky has for the property.
Bilinsky had objected to providing the information, saying that no other homeowner in Newry has produced such information for assessment.
Gingras said that based on the information she provided, there was $4.8 million in insurance on the property, and wondered why she would, or could, insure it for so much, when construction costs she provided totaled about $3.1 million.
“What we insure the property for is not necessarily what it will cost to rebuild,” Bilinsky said. “I chose a higher number.”
“You chose it?” asked Gingras. “You convinced your insurance company that your property is $5 million to replace?”
Bilinsky said she told the company she wanted to insure it for $4 million, at a cost of only a “couple of hundred dollars” more than the cost to insure it for $3.1 million. She also said the insurance company added an automatic 20 percent more for features not related to the building itself, such as patios and retaining walls.
Nagel also questioned the amount. “You can’t tell an insurance company what your building is worth. … It doesn’t work that way. Insurance companies need to be convinced.”
“I own four homes,” Bilinsky said. “That is exactly how it works. I call the insurance company, and they ask me what number I want to insure it for.”
“And if the house burns down, they just write you a check?” Nagel asked.
“No,” she replied. “If the house burns down, they evaluate it and write me a check for the appropriate number. But what I choose to pay for is my choice.
“I don’t touch my insurance polices after I do them, and I don’t want to find that five years from now, or 10 years from now, that I’m underinsured,” she said.
Crockett also noted that the cost of replacement would be higher in 2012 than the cost to build in 2007.
The discussion later returned to the grade of the home.
New Selectman Brooks Morton, who works on homes, said it seemed to him there were other houses in Newry where the craftsmanship was as good as at Bilinsky’s and, in some cases, with more expensive materials.
“It seems like there’s a big jump in grade [at her home],” he said.
“It’s the best house in town,” Gingras replied. “The bottom line is, we’ve valued the property for assessing purposes at $2.4 million [for the house alone], versus $3.1 million by her own admission, on a piece of property she’s insuring for $4.8 million.”
When the abatement vote was taken, Morton voted in favor, while Wendy Hanscom and Gary Wight were opposed.
Wight said he supported the recommendation of Gingras and Nagel. “That’s what we pay them for,” he said.
Added Hanscom, “She just doesn’t want to pay her fair share. If she doesn’t pay her fair share, then I have to, and you have to.”
Town Administrator Loretta Powers said she had heard from other property owners, including some nonresidents, who support the town’s stand on the issue. “They don’t think we’re wasting their money [in legal fees],” she said.
As for appealing the decision, Bilinsky said, “As long as the town’s selectmen continue to authorize the tax assessor to use our tax dollars to object and fight over issues as clear-cut as getting our square footage correct, never mind equal treatment on the grade of our home, we will be forced to continue to seek justice through the appeals process, the Superior Court, and even the law court if necessary.”
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