Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

BARRINGTON, R.I. -- In response to the revaluation controversy, a Barrington resident has offered the Town Council $100,000 to create an independent committee that would evaluate current tax policy and identify needed changes.

In a full-page letter to the Barrington Times, Norman "Sandy" McCulloch became the latest resident to raise questions about Vision Appraisal's property revaluation, which has led to calls for an entirely new review.

McCulloch declined to be interviewed on Wednesday, saying that this is a story of interest to Barrington residents only. In 2000, McCulloch and his wife donated a 28-acre piece of the land to the town valued at $3 million.

In his letter, McCulloch said that the Town Council has "seriously erred in delegating issues critical to the town's character to a few people who admittedly know nothing of Barrington's traditions and values, and, what's more, [could] care less. We are more than a bunch of faceless street addresses!"

McCulloch is referring to Vision Appraisal, the firm hired to conduct the town's statistical revaluation, which looks at comparable property sales rather than site visits to individual houses. The latest property assessments have infuriated many taxpayers, who have seen their property values soar during one of the biggest housing collapses in recent memory.

More than 700 residents packed a public meeting at Barrington High School in March and many of them complained that assessments for similar houses in the same neighborhoods varied widely, while others argued that waterfront property was grossly over-valued.

McCulloch wrote that the "firestorm that Vision has provoked has polarized the community, engendered shrill rhetoric and hardened attitudes that prevent sober discussion."

Calling the evaluation seriously flawed, McCulloch wrote that the assessments, if left unchallenged, would undermine the town's strong sense of community and encourage its "diverse, well-educated citizenry" to pull up stakes.

McCulloch has asked the Town Council to postpone the current revaluation until a committee that includes experts on municipal government is able to reassess the current tax policy. The letter did not specify what aspects of the tax policy should be modified.

"This is not a hollow offer," McCulloch wrote, referring to his 28-acre donation. "Our concern for quality-of-life- issues is even stronger today."

Town Council President June Speakman called McCulloch's offer very generous, but said that the council can't accept a proposal that has strings attached.

"It would be intriguing to study our tax policy," she said Wednesday. "But we can't accept any offers that are contingent on a specific outcome."

Meanwhile, she said that the Town Council will hold a meeting on April 23 to determine whether to accept Vision Appraisal's assessments. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at Barrington High School.

Comments

carol williams said:

For his efforts, Mr. McCulloch was treated shamefully at 2nd reval. meeting, primarily by Council President Speakman 4/23/09 who spoke harshly and in my opinion harshly to a citizen attempting to help sort out the flawed Vision appraisal problem in town

Link | April 24, 2009 3:16 PM
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