Ken Rodgers, president of K.R.T. Appraisal, and Rob Tozier, vice president, did their best to try to explain the methodology used regarding their property assessments for 2012. They gave a power point presentation (which, thanks to the diligence of assistant finance director Michelle Karas, is now up on the town Web Site) and tried to answer the many questions about the process from the many residents who packed the Cummings School meeting hall.
It’s clear that there was a wide sway in the valuations, even depending on the side of the street you live on, and in the case of Seal Harbor condominiums, residents there questioned some of the firm’s decisions.
K.R.T Appraisal certainly faced a tough assignment in an economy that has so greatly affected the housing market and they most certainly conducted their valuation in a professional manner. They have agreed to meet with individual homeowners to discuss their valuations in person and that is probably the best course at this point for homeowners to follow.
Council President Peter Gill walked into a pressure cooker for his first full-length meeting (there was a brief meeting on inauguration night) and he handled the give-and-take between the residents and the K.R.T officials masterfully, limiting the discussion to broad points and not specific questions about individual homes. The meeting could have become raucous and unwielding, but Gill kept the discussion in focus.
So residents will have the opportunity to meet individually with Mr. Rodgers and Mr. Tozier and express their opinions about the assessments. Residents should heed Councilor-at-Large Phil Boncore’s advice to get it done quickly because of the Feb. 1 deadline for abatements. The issue of hiring a full-time assessor was heard during Tuesday’s meeting and that will likely be a consideration by the Council in the future.
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What the meeting actually showed were three things: the new council president has no judgement of scheduling meetings by seriousness of topic, he was all in a dither because the assessment discussion went over an hour. Town property owners were done no favor when an acting town manager showed his amateur status and fired the town's full time assessor for reasons that are the subject of strong rumors. The KRT presentation was geared to a power point show that dumbfounded more than a few people who are not comfortable with statistical methodolody and thus left the meeting as much in the dark as they were before then went in.