I have an appeal pending before the board. Must I continue to apply with the town and appeal to the board for subsequent tax years while I wait for my appeal to be heard?

A. The simple answer is “No.” You do not have to appeal for subsequent years unless any of the following have changed since your original appeal:

a)the property itself;

b)the assessment; or

c)the reasons for the appeal.

This simple answer, however, requires elaboration. The following will occur on your original (now pending) appeal:

1)the board will issue a decision only for the appealed year(s);

2)if an abatement is granted, the municipality shall abate taxes for the years between the filing of the appeal and theissuance of the decision, using the ordered assessment with good-faith adjustments;

3)if an abatement is granted, the municipality shall also use the ordered assessment for subsequent tax years withgood-faith adjustments; and

4)if a taxpayer thinks the municipality made adjustments to the ordered assessment without having a good-faith reason,the taxpayer may file a motion with the board to determine if the municipality had a good-faith reason to adjust theordered assessment.

*Note: The above outline assumes no municipal-wide general revaluation or update has occurred and no changes have occurred in theproperty, the reasons for the appeal or the assessment other than good-faith adjustments.

As shown in 2) and 3) above, a taxpayer who has not appealed for subsequent tax years is entitled to some relief for subsequent tax years. However, as shown in 4) above, such a taxpayer can only make a limited challenge to the assessment for subsequent years, i.e., they can only challenge whether the municipality had a good-faith reason to adjust the ordered assessment. If the municipality shows it had a good-faith reason, the adjusted assessment will stand unless the taxpayer proves the municipality did not have a good-faith basis. The taxpayer cannot challenge the magnitude of the adjustments unless the taxpayer shows the changes were so unreasonable that the municipality’s adjustments were made without a good-faith basis.

Taxpayers must decide on their own whether to appeal each year or to rely on the provided rights without appealing. If you have any questions regarding subsequent tax year appeals, please address them to the board, in writing.