By JENNIFER CLAISE
Staff Writer

While Candia residents wait for the state Department of Revenue to determine what their tax rate will be, at least one was angry enough about the revaluation results to distribute anonymous copies of a selectman’s new tax card to his neighbors, highlighting an apparent discrepancy.

Selectman Gary York said he’s not sure who put together the envelopes containing the new value of his home at 39 Hemlock Drive, along with the new assessments of some of his neighbors’ homes, and distributed them in late September.

But he guessed the individual’s intent was to raise suspicion about his home’s reassessed value, which was significantly lower than both the town average and the average of homes on Hemlock Drive.

According to tax records, there are nine private homes on Hemlock Drive. Excluding York’s home, the average increase in value after the revaluation was 46 percent. The value of York’s home increased just 28 percent, from $182,850 to $233,100.

The town’s average increase was between 65 and 75 percent, he said.

His home’s smaller increase could appear improper, since the selectmen were the ones to choose Massachusetts-based Vision Appraisals to conduct the town’s first revaluation since 1991.

But York said the reassessed value of his home can be easily explained.

In 2002, he said he hired a Hampton contractor to do major reconstruction on his home, adding a two-stall detached garage, a porch and an office.

However, York is now suing the contractor, claiming that there were major structural deficiencies in the work that will cost over $175,000 to correct. That is why his new assessment was lower than many would have anticipated, he said.

“I knew there would be this perception of impropriety once people looked at the revaluation,” York said.

That’s why he asked assessors from the state DRA to come to his home and do a review of Vision Appraisal’s assessment. If asked, the department will monitor all revaluation work throughout the state.

Assessment Representative Supervisor David Hynes confirmed that Tom Welch, the assessment representative for Candia, did a data accuracy review on York’s property.

“As part of his review, he noted that the property attributes were listed correctly,” Hynes said. However, he added that his department “is neither responsible for the values nor applies any opinion of individual values.”

York said he feels he did everything he could do to mitigate this perception of impropriety.

“What else could I have done?” York asked. “I tried to head it off with the DRA, and my wife, Michele, and I sent out letters to our friends and neighbors, giving them the opportunity to come and talk with us.”

York said the board has discussed the possibility of having future appraisals of selectmen’s homes done by the state, rather than a private company, to avoid similar problems.

Tax cards are public information and can be accessed from a computer in the town clerk’s office. More limited information can be found on the assessor’s database at www.vision apprais-al.com. Users must register to access the database.