Some Enfield taxpayers are still frustrated with the way their property is being assessed. This comes after an independent review of the tax assessor’s office and the Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA).
“The town is not helping me per say and it’s just making things worse," said Enfield taxpayer Dave Turner.
Turner is still questioning why his old truck is still being assessed a high amount. He said that’s too much in taxes.
“Where’s the help from this town? It’s obvious that the truck is not worth $26,000,” he said.
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He said he went to the BAA, but wasn’t successful. He said the tax assessor, Todd Helems, attending appeals meetings is not helping.
“He went to some of them in my opinion to intimidate the people speaking up at the board of appeals,” Turner said.
We reached out to the town which pointed to an independent review of the tax assessor’s office and the BAA commissioned by councilors.
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The review found Helems, “mostly complied with the law and fulfilled the duties of his office in good faith, there were interpersonal shortcomings.”
The review recommended he communicate better with taxpayers. It also found while Helems had no intent to intimidate taxpayers in attending appeals meetings, his presence had resulted in an “unnecessarily contentious atmosphere” and advised Helems to not attend in the future.
The reviewers also wrote they believed the members of the BAA acted in good faith, but acted also in an “unnecessarily adversarial manner and, on several occasions, disregarded the law applicable to the assessment of real and personal property.”
In a statement, Enfield Town Manager Ellen Zoppo Sassu said town councilors have been reading the review, saying in part:
“It is my anticipation that the town council will review the findings at their September 7 meeting and recommend best practices to improve the workings of the Board of Assessment Appeals and the Office of the Assessor going forward."
At a meeting Wednesday, the BAA disagreed with the review’s findings, saying the problem still lies with Helems improperly assessing some properties.
Turner said he had no confidence in the review and has this message:
“Be fair to the town of Enfield. Be fair to the people,” he said.
