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Welcome to the NEW Atkinson Reporter! Under new management, with new resolve.

The purpose of this Blog is to pick up where the Atkinson Reporter has left off. "The King is dead, Long live the King!" This Blog is a forum for the discussion of predominantly Atkinson; Officials, People, Ideas, and Events. You may give opinion, fact, or evaluation, but ad hominem personal attacks will not be tolerated, or published. The conversation begun on the Atkinson Reporter MUST be continued!

This Blog will not fall to outside hacks from anyone, especially insecure public officials afraid of their constituents criticism.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Atkinson assessing information online

From the Eagle Tribune;

Atkinson assessing information online

By Eric Parry eparry@eagletribune.com

ATKINSON — The town has made property tax information more accessible, but it took a while. More than a year after voters approved a warrant article to put the information online, it's there.

The town hired Avitar Associates of New England to post assessed home and property values online. The information can be accessed through the town's website, www.town-atkinsonnh.com.

The original citizens petition warrant article in 2009 was overwhelmingly approved by voters, but there was no money appropriated for the task. This year, voters at Town Meeting approved a new warrant article to raise $4,000 to complete the job.

But Barbara Snicer, the town's administrative assistant, said the cost will probably be much less than that.

"It looks like it's going to be around $2,000," she said.

Town officials hope to update the site each month with new information from the Rockingham County Registry of Deeds, as well as building permit and abatement information.

Snicer said this new feature will make it easier for residents to see their own personal information.

"If there's a mistake, it's to everyone's advantage to take care of it," she said.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am not generally in agreement with much of the criticism expressed in this blog.

But... KUDOS to those taxpayer activists who helped make this public posting of tax information happen.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Thank Leon Artus for this information.

Anonymous said...

I have a question....I see that people I know have errors in the ta cards.

What is the mechanism for reporting these errors?

If they make improvements and don't report them, don't get permits, it affects what I pay in taxes.

How do I report them?

Can we set up an anonymous snitching system?

We should!

Let the honest prevail!

Unknown said...

I don't mean to change the subject, but moderator, could you please add this item as a new topic. It has to do with our cost-of-living and cheaters, which is not that far off target. We all know the line from Robert Frost's "The Mending Wall", "Good fences make good neighbours.” I usually try to stay on my side of the stone wall, but every once in a while, the situation begs for action. You'll know immediately who the writer is once you've read the article. Yes, it's Dennis, from The Plaistow NH Town Crier.

The article at the bottom of the page appeared in the online version of the Hampton Union today, buried deep within a column headed "Hampton Around Town". Boy, am I glad that paper has a search feature.

"The Crier" is proposing that Attorney Sumner Kalman prepare to intervene on behalf of residents of Atkinson, Plaistow, Newton, Kingston and East Kingston in the Unitil rate case that is currently before the NH Public Utilities Commission. I can't think of anyone more qualified and more deserving of this honor. I believe it's Unitil Docket DE 10-055. All it takes is a vote of your Board of Selectmen and Sumner will have to attend. And don't delay. There are time limits for requests to intervene.

I hear parts of Danville and Hampstead are also served by Unitil, so they might be interested in joining too. All Unitil towns will have to act soon to get the attention of the bureaucrats and politicians in Concord.

If you go to the NH PUC website, don't miss Unitil's other docket, DE 10-001, covering the Dec 2008 Ice Storm. Check out Councilor Beverly Hollingworth's testimony. She was her usual pro-Unitil self.

Unitil showed us just how inept they were at disaster management during the December 2008 ice storm. Even during this years wind storm there were pleas on behalf of the elderly on Smith Corner Road in Newton. Now they're showing us just how inept they are at managing their own company's finances during a downturn. They never should have handed out bonuses to their executives last year and they should cut investor dividends before demanding a bailout from ratepayers.

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"Hampton intervenes in Unitil rate hike case

Selectmen voted unanimously this week to intervene in the Unitil Corporation's rate hike request this week in order to stay abreast of the case and its potential impact on Hampton residents.

The Hampton-based company filed a request Friday, April 16, with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission to increase its electric distribution charges, the fees associated with delivering electricity to customers, by as much as 9 percent.

The company is also seeking a temporary rate hike that would generate $6.7 million in additional revenue and go into effect on or about July 1, while the case is being heard.

Unitil spokeswoman Carol Valianti said the rate hike was necessitated because expenses have increased while revenues have declined.

She said costs have risen for property taxes, depreciation and storm restoration, including two of the most devastating events in New Hampshire history.

The company said sales are down because of increased energy efficiency in homes and a downturn in the national economy, according to the filing with the PUC.

— Patrick Cronin"

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Sorry for the interruption.

Anonymous said...

You come here to pitch for Kalmer?

Tax cards online are great. Now I don't have to fight the town to find out I am paying more than I shoud. My good neighbor pays a lot less than me for a whole lot more land. One of the perks for working for the town? I'm gonna go & file for abatement. I pay less or he pays more but I ain't gonna put up with this. Maybe Kalmer will help me. Ha ha.

Anonymous said...

Come here to pitch for Kalmer?

Tax cards online are great. Now I don't have to fight the town to find out I am paying more than my good neighbor paying a lot less than me for a whole lot more land. One of the perks for working for the town? I'm gonna go & file for abatement this time for sure. I pay less or he pays more but I ain't gonna put up with this. Maybe Kalmer will help me. Ya, right