Board of Assessors statement

Posted June 29, 2006

The following is a prepared statement provided by the West Tisbury board of assessors:

We are gratified by the Appellate Tax Board's decision in the Graham case. It is a victory not simply for the Assessors, but for all West Tisbury taxpayers, who deserve to have their properties assessed in a fair, uniform, and consistent manner. While we cannot know for sure until the ATB issues its report, it certainly seems the Appellate Tax Board agreed with our arguments that no fraud was committed and that the revaluation system was not flawed, as Mr. Graham argued. It also appears that for 5 of the 7 properties, the Appellate Tax Board agreed with our argument that Mr. Graham failed to meet his burden of proving that the properties were overvalued on all of the theories he offered. With a total assessed value of $51,115,800, and with Mr. Graham seeking a reduction of $31 million dollars, the Appellate Tax Board ruled that the properties were overvalued by just $528,500. From day one we believed that the Graham properties were fairly assessed and reflective of fair market value. It was a long, difficult court case but in the end, the Appellate Tax Board agreed with us, and all of West Tisbury is better off for that decision.