HB 1449-FN-LOCAL – AS INTRODUCED
2006 SESSION
10/04
HOUSE BILL 1449-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT requiring a reduced property assessment when a building is damaged.
SPONSORS: Rep. Lasky, Hills 26
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
This bill requires that a damaged building which is demolished and removed shall have a reduced assessment applied for the remainder of the property tax year.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
06-2447
10/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six
AN ACT requiring a reduced property assessment when a building is damaged.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Property Tax Year. Amend RSA 76:2 to read as follows:
76:2 Property Tax Year. The property tax year shall be April 1 to March 31 and all property taxes, except for reduced assessments on damaged buildings under RSA 76:21, shall be assessed on the inventory taken in April of that year.
2 New Subdivision; Reduced Assessment for Damaged Buildings. Amend RSA 76 by inserting after section 20 the following new subdivision:
Reduced Assessment for Damaged Buildings
76:21 Reduced Assessment for Damaged Buildings.
I. Whenever, after the expiration of 90 days after damage to a building, the building remains damaged as to require reconstruction of 75 percent or more before it may be used for any purpose related to its use prior to the damage and, following which, the owner provides for 75 percent or more demolition of the building, with the material from demolition being removed from the parcel of real property on which the building was situated or used as fill on the parcel for the purposes of grading, the parcel shall be assessed for purposes of property tax as of the date the demolition, removal, and grading are completed to the satisfaction of the building inspector and tax assessor, and the assessment shall reflect a determination of the assessed value of the parcel, exclusive of the assessment value of the building so damaged, demolished, or removed.
II. The reduced assessment shall apply with respect to the parcel from the date demolition, removal, and grading are completed, as determined by the building inspector, until the end of the current property tax year and the amount of property tax payable with respect to the parcel for the assessment year in which demolition, removal, and grading are completed is reduced accordingly in the manner determined by the assessor. Any tax due for the year shall be abated for the prorated portion of the remainder of the property tax year.
III. The municipal assessing officials are authorized to suspend the tax abatement requirement for any year in which so many buildings within the town or city are so severely damaged that granting reduced assessments for all would jeopardize the fiscal integrity of the municipality.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect April 1, 2006.
LBAO
06-2447
11/21/05
HB 1449-FN-LOCAL - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT requiring a reduced property assessment when a building is damaged.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Revenue Administrative and New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill will increase local expenditures and have an indeterminable fiscal impact on county and local revenue in FY 2006 and each year thereafter. There would be no fiscal impact on state and county expenditures or state revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Revenue Administration states current law only allows buildings damaged after April 1 to be assessed at their value as of April 1 and not thereafter. If a structure were valued at $1,000 as of April 1 and suffered 25% damage on April 2, the assessor would not be able to reduce the portion damaged on April 2 ($250) until the following April 1. Reducing assessments on damaged buildings after April 1, plus 90 days or from the date of demolition prorated to the end of the tax year (March 31) would decrease revenues in that tax year for local and county governments. Administrative costs would increase at the local level in an effort to track these various dates of damage and or demolition. Not all municipalities employ building inspectors or full-time assessors which may also add administrative costs. The Department is unable to determine the exact fiscal impact at this time.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states depending on when the property is damaged and the conditions for a reduced assessment are met, the proposal could either reduce municipal tax revenue (if conditions are met after the final property values are set), or shift the taxes among existing taxpayers (if conditions are met before the final property values are set). This bill would also impose additional administrative costs on municipalities, for both assessing and building inspections, as municipal officers are charged with discovering which buildings have been damaged and with making the determination that a building is sufficiently damaged and that the other conditions are met. The Association is unable to determine the exact fiscal impact at this time.