JAY — The Board of Assessment Review will use submitted material and the record to make a decision on Verso Androscoggin LLC’s appeal of selectpersons’ denial of a tax abatement for the 2014 tax year.
No public hearing will be held on the appeal application unless one of the parties requests it, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said Tuesday. The board anticipates deciding on the matter based on the written decisions prior to July 17, she said.
The board deemed Verso’s application acceptable for processing May 27.
On May 20, the town received Verso’s appeal of the selectpersons’ April 13 decision to deny an abatement of at least $193.79 million in value. The decision stated that “although a lower valuation was cited, it was not supported by any data and as a result the abatement was denied for failure to meet the burden of proof.”
The company claims the mill and property are substantially overassessed and should be assessed at no more than $400 million for that year.
The town’s assessed value of the property for the April 1, 2014, tax year was about $593.78 million. It consists of an assessed value of $179.1 million of real property and about $414.6 million of personal property. Verso also has $74.7 million in tax exempt property.
It is the second appeal Verso has filed with the Board of Assessment Review. The company applied for an abatement with the Board of Selectpersons for the 2013 tax year in February 2014. Verso claimed its property should be valued at $460 million. Selectpersons reduced the value on the mill on Jan. 6 from $815.4 million to $591.9 million and granted Verso an $829,258 abatement.
The company appealed that decision and the Board of Assessment Review denied the appeal on April 1 following a two-day hearing.
Verso has taken its appeal of the 2013 tax year to the state Board of Property Tax Review.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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