Ellie Mandell and her husband moved from Watertown to Greenfield in 2013. “I have environmental illness. Over time it became clear that our 1920s home in Watertown was making me ill,” she explains. “One of the reasons we chose Greenfield was that we thought folks here would be more aware of toxic and fragranced products.”

“New houses, or those recently renovated, tend to have off-gassing from toxic building materials,” Ellie adds. “Older homes may have an accumulation of other types of toxins. Our house is oversized, so my chances were greater of finding a room to sleep in that didn’t make me ill. Overall, this house has worked out for me.”

“Our house was on the market for many months and had several price reductions before we bought it. It’s 138 years old and tired out in many ways. The fact that it had not been renovated was a bonus for us, given that any work done would have involved materials such as caulk, paint, or carpet glues, which would make me ill.”

“We bought our house for $259,000. At the time its tax assessment was $448,000. I filed for a tax abatement in 2014 to fix this imbalance. My assessment was reduced to $428,000. I could have filed an appeal to the state appellate tax board — if I had enough comparable data to make a good case.”

“Because my home is somewhat unusual, I needed more data to get a sense of what would be a fair assessment for it, and to feel more empowered to appeal. Easy access to comparable data should be available to all Greenfield homeowners.”

“I began to attend the Board of Assessors meetings a few months ago. I asked for the public to have access to the kind of data I wanted available to myself. Without an overall picture, a good case can’t be made that any specific property is out of line. If folks had access to sufficient data to get a firm grasp of the overall picture, the city might have to bear down on corrections, and this might be an inconvenience for officials.”

Ellie Mandell is asking a key question: How can we, as property owners, assure ourselves that there isn’t within the assessments, a hidden regressive dynamic, whereby lower-valued residential properties are paying disproportionate amounts relative to higher-valued residential properties? Your home is your biggest lifetime purchase. Your online Property Card gives you a total assessed value but no explanation of how that value was calculated. Ellie believes all property taxpayers should be able to easily research comparable properties, using an Excel spreadsheet, and determine for themselves if their home is being fairly valued.

Are some commercial properties getting a sweet deal? City Councilors have raised concerns about some commercial assessments: Patriot Place, the marijuana dispensary at 7 Legion Avenue, bought its property in 2020 for $2.1 million, yet it’s assessed at only $292,600. The owner, a large national cannabis operator, pays $6,531 in taxes on property that brings in millions in revenue. For fiscal year 2023, Ellie Mandell pays $9,311 in taxes for her home. Greenfield Property Development, created by Louis Ceruzzi, bought an 18-acre parcel for $3.75 million in 2010. It’s assessed at only $1 million 12 years later. That property brings in over $1 million in revenue annually from Stop & Shop. When commercial properties are undertaxed, residential homeowners pick up most of the subsidy.

The Greenfield assessors website claims the city maintains “a computerized mass appraisal system,” and “internet access to this information offers Greenfield’s citizens a clear look at the statistical component of their property assessment and a way to track any discrepancies that might warrant correction.” But Ellie Mandell notes there is no easy internet access to this data by any property owner. The Assessors Puzzle Box will only open with complete data across all parcels. It’s unlikely that any owner will be able to file an informed abatement request, since assessors must receive your application for abatement by Feb. 1, 2023 — just 30 days after you got your actual real estate tax bill.

Ellie Mandell and I met with the Greenfield assessors twice in recent months. Educating property owners about how homes get valued is an important function of their office. The assessors were open to making the process more transparent. “It’s a dark corner of the universe,” one assessor agreed. “But it’s not a black hole.”

Al Norman’s Pushback column appears every third Wednesday. His latest book is “Ravings: American Wild Talk.” Comments can be sent to info@sprawl-busters.com.

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