Alfano Law Office, PLLC

Alfano Law Office, PLLC
Phone: (603) 856-8411 • Fax (603) 290-5521
4 Park Street, Concord, NH 03301
  • Home
  • Real Estate Law
    • Road Law
    • Commercial Real Estate Law
    • Tax Abatements
    • Business Law
  • Estate Planning
  • About Us
    • Paul J. Alfano, Real Estate Attorney
    • John F. Hayes, Attorney
    • Terrie Harman, Attorney
    • Jim Soucy, Attorney
    • Marissa Schuetz, Attorney
    • Michael D. Cameron, Attorney
    • Privacy Policy
  • Articles
  • Contact Us
    • Directions
  • Road Law Guide
  • NH Tax Abatement
    • Tax Abatement Team
    • Grounds for Abatement
    • Municipal Application
    • Owners of Properties Outside New Hampshire
    • Transfer Tax Allocation
    • Recent Laws and Rulings
  • Resources and Links
    • Allobar Strategies
    • Calendar and Key Dates
    • Equalization Ratio
    • NAPTA
  • Covid-19 Updates
You are here: Home / NH Tax Abatement / Grounds for Abatement

Grounds for Abatement

compare“[A]ny person aggrieved” may request an abatement.  RSA 76:16.  This includes someone who acquires the subject real estate after April 1 but before the December tax bill comes out.  Langford v. Town of Newton, 119 N.H. 470 (1979).  The buyer is a “party aggrieved” because it receives notice of the April 1 assessment when the December bills came out.  (The closing in the Langford case was typical in that the parties prorated the real estate taxes at closing based on the prior year’s taxes.)  Please note the seller had timely filed an inventory.  The buyer, of course, did not.  This was important to the court.  If the seller had failed to file the inventory, the court still may have considered the buyer an aggrieved party, but denied the ability to maintain the appeal based on the failure to file the inventory.  In addition, a superior tax abatement appeal may be assigned and continued by the buyer of real estate.  Wise Shoe Co. v. Town of Exeter, 119 N.H. 700 (1979).

The standard is whether a particular piece of property is assessed disproportionately higher than other properties in the same municipality.  The standard is not whether the property is assessed at a value higher than fair market value, but whether it is assessed at a greater percentage of fair market value than other properties; therefore, if a parcel is assessed at a value 10% higher than fair market value and all other parcels in town are assessed at a value 10% higher than fair market value, then no grounds exist for an abatement.

The first step is to calculate what the town believes is the fair market value of the property.  This is done by dividing the assessed value by the equalization ratio.  If you can demonstrate the resulting fair market value is higher than actual fair market value, then grounds exist for an abatement.

All other properties owned by the same taxpayer in the same municipality must be included when doing this analysis.  If one property is over-assessed but another is under-assessed by an equal amount, then no grounds exist for an abatement.

In determining whether other land of the owner must be introduced for purposes of determining proportionality, the key is whether the owner is the taxpayer on those parcels.  See Appeal of City of Lebanon (February 23, 2011).  “We now clarify that when a taxpayer owns more than one parcel in any given municipality, a request for abatement on one will always require consideration of the assessment on any other parcels for which the owner is also the taxpayer.”  The key, though, is whether the taxpayer is also the taxpayer for those other parcels.  Facts of Appeal of Lebanon: taxpayer owed two lots.  One lot subject to a 75 year sublease to Walgreens (Walgreens also had the right to terminate after 25 years).  The lease was triple net and Walgreens had the right to pursue tax abatements.  The court held that the taxpayer was required only to introduce evidence of disproportionality for the lot it challenged, which was the lot not subject to the Walgreen’s lease.

The court’s ruling was quite broad and may open the door for much shorter leases.  The court did not seem to consider the length of the lease important.  In fact, it appears irrelevant.  What seems to matter is who had the obligation of paying the tax as between landlord and tenant.

Alfano Law Office, PLLC is New Hampshire’s sole member of NAPTA.

 

 

Important Registry Updates
Important Court Updates

Subscribe to the Alfano Law Property Rights Alert

Sign Up Now

For Email Newsletters you can trust.
Allobar Strategies

NH Tax Abatement

  • Road Law Guide
  • NH Tax Abatement
    • Tax Abatement Team
    • Grounds for Abatement
    • Municipal Application
    • Owners of Properties Outside New Hampshire
    • Transfer Tax Allocation
    • Recent Laws and Rulings
  • Resources and Links
    • Allobar Strategies
    • Calendar and Key Dates
    • Equalization Ratio
    • NAPTA
  • Covid-19 Updates

NH Real Estate Law Articles

  • Court Updates
  • Covid-19
  • Estate Planning
  • General
  • Legislation
  • New Hampshire Property Tax Alerts
  • Property Investments
  • Property Tax Law
  • Real Estate Law
  • Road Law
  • Taxes

Recent News Letters

March 2020

December 2019

November 2019

October 2019

August 2019

July 2019

May 2019

Recent Articles

March 1 is the Deadline to Request a Refund of New Hampshire Property Taxes

March 1, 2021 is the deadline to challenge your 2020 real … [Read More...]

NHPVRTA SUBMITS DRAFT OF NEW BILL ON PRIVATE ROADS TO THE NH SENATE

New Hampshire Private Road Taxpayers Alliance (NHPVRTA) is a … [Read More...]

Understanding Commercial Site Planning in New Hampshire

Obtaining a rezoning of property to a commercial zoning … [Read More...]

Penn Central Regulatory Takings Claims in New Hampshire

State and local government entities have the ability to use … [Read More...]

Article Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • October 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • June 2013
  • February 2012
  • December 2011
  • May 2011
  • July 2010
  • December 2005
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Alfano Law Office, PLLC, 4 Park Street, Concord, NH 03301 USA | Phone: (603) 856-8411
Copyright © 2021 · Alfano Law Office, PLLC. All Rights Reserved · Website design by InterActive Synergy, LLC

Sign up to receive our FREE Road Law Guide

Everything you need to know about navigating public and private road laws in New Hampshire.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.