This story was originally produced by the Conway Daily Sun. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
The New Hampshire Board of Tax and Land Appeals issued an interim order Thursday that it wants to dive deeper into the town's property assessments after a local couple claimed the recent revaluation unfairly pushed over a million dollars of tax burden to residents. The interim order leaves open the possibility it may order a reval in 2026.
Assessing firm, Corcoran Consulting of Wolfeboro, did the revaluation.
Conway homeowners Jim and Karen Prue appeared before the appeals board last September to say they believe Conway commercial properties were undervalued, which put the tax burden squarely on owners of residential property.
Prues own a home on Tamarack Overlook, off of Poliquin Drive in Conway. They asked the land board to require Conway to do a full reassessment of properties in town.
The town was represented by attorney Steven Whitley of Drummond Woodsum, who said the Prues’ grievances did not amount to an order for revaluation.
The town's next scheduled revaluation isn't until 2028. It is required by the state to do one every five years. The Prues said if the errors weren't corrected, it would unfairly shift $6 million in tax burden to residential taxpayers.
The Board of Tax and Land Appeals consists of Michele Le Brun, Theresa Walker and Eric Wind. The members were appointed by the state Supreme Court.
Following the hearing, the Board of Tax and Land Appeals decided it didn't have enough information to make a decision.
However, "in light of the board's analyses indicating pervasive issues with the town's contracted scope of work for cyclical inspection process, contradictory sections of the 2023 USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) report, and general lack of transparency in the assessment of commercial properties, the board concludes on a preliminary basis that a prospective reassessment order may be warranted," the Board of Tax and Land Appeals said in its decision.
The appeals board found the level of assessments of commercial property sold from Aug. 1, 2023, to Aug. 1, 2024, to be at 77% of market value, which is below the acceptable range of 90-110%.
The appeals board gave the town of Conway until May 23 to file a detailed reassessment plan and a plan to measure and list. Ratio studies are also due that day.
As for inconsistencies, the appeals board said Corcoran didn't do what its contract with the town called for.
"The contract obligated Corcoran to measure and list all sales, and it is clear they did not. As previously stated, the town had a cyclical inspection process in place from 2014-18 and completed a cyclical revaluation for tax year 2019," said the appeals board.
"By definition, all properties would have been inspected between 2014 and 2018, or during the 2019 reassessment at the latest. However, the "Entrance Information" field on the 129 assessed record cards in the record indicate that the most recent inspection dates are prior to 2010 for at least 20 commercial properties, or 15.5%."
In March, Jim Prue told selectmen that about $109 million in assessed value in town was unaccounted for in the tax rate calculation, and this translates to $1,253,272 worth of burden being shifted to residential property owners.
In response to the order, Jim and Karen Prue commented: “It’s unfortunate that a reassessment order in 2025 wasn’t issued, as commercial tax burden will continue to be shifted to residential taxpayers for another year, but we understand the order in light of the scathing findings in the document. We thank the BTLA for the thoroughness of their investigation."
The Sun asked Town Manager John Eastman for comment on Monday.
"We are going to comply with the BTLA's interim order and cooperate with everything they need us to do," said Eastman.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Eastman announced that Corcoran has terminated its contract with the town, and now Conway needs a new assessing firm.
"They're going to be gone on March 14, and they just said that it was due to a major number of staff changes over the past couple of months, and they are unable to provide the customer care that we deserve," said Eastman, adding town staff is looking for a replacement.
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