A watchdog group slammed the state Department of Revenue for failing to address “evidence” that the City of Boston is penalizing commercial building owners who file appeals by increasing the assessed worth, and taxes, of their properties.
The Pioneer New England Legal Foundation sent a letter to DOR Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder last week accusing his department of opting for “bureaucratic convenience” over a thorough analysis by dismissing what the watchdog alleged were “unauthorized and unconstitutional” assessment practices by the city.
“Because our assertions are plain, simple and readily apparent from the records we provided, we can only assume that your professed confusion about our assertions is mere bureaucratic convenience,” Frank Bailey, president of the New England Legal Foundation, wrote in the letter. “Again, taxpayers deserve more, and your office is statutorily required to investigate the city’s assessment practices.”
Bailey wrote last Thursday that Pioneer believes that it has “uncovered a concerted and widespread over-assessment scheme by the city.”
He said Pioneer provided commercial property record cards to DOR that show the city is “deliberately” assessing those properties beyond the fair market worth, and was “secretly penalizing” owners who appealed those valuations.
The so-called penalty came in the form of assessed worth being added to properties by the City of Boston after those commercial property owners had filed abatements with the state’s Appellate Tax Board, Bailey’s letter states.
Bailey, when requesting a DOR investigation into the city’s assessment practices in late June, said, “In so doing, the city has unlawfully increased those taxpayers’ tax burden by as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Snyder, the DOR commissioner, wrote back to Pioneer last month, stating that his department, upon breakdown, was “unable to substantiate” its claims.
Mayor Michelle Wu’s financial chief at the time described the DOR’s findings as affirmation that the city abides by the law in assessing property values.
A city spokesperson had previously dismissed Pioneer’s allegations as “baseless and full of misinformation.”
Bailey, a retired judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts, said Pioneer is not deterred by the DOR’s findings and stands by its claims against the city.
“This is about fairness, transparency, and ensuring the city cannot punish those who exercise their rights,” Bailey said in a statement. “The (DOR) commissioner’s refusal to address the evidence is unacceptable.”
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