MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester Board of Assessors will continue to have two members following a decision on Tuesday night from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
In a voice vote, the Aldermen rejected a request by Ward 8 Alderman Michael Porter to add a third member of the Board of Assessors, as required by the Manchester City Charter.
Porter also told the board about situations with constituents where the two current assessors disagreed with each other during a hearing, leaving unresolved deadlocks.
Initially, the matter was set to be referred to the Committee on Administration and Information Systems before Porter took it off the consent agenda.
Ward 12 Alderman Keith Hirschmann and Ward 5 Alderman Anthony Sapienza replied that the current Board of Assessors and the entire Assessing Department was doing a good job according to what they have been seeing and feedback from their constituents, thus making another assessor an unnecessary expense.
The item was one of the few points of discussion during the meeting, which concluded in approximately 90 minutes.
Only one roll call vote was recorded during the meeting, a request from a local man who requested extending the closing date of a property on Bodwell Road he purchased from the city at auction. He initially believed he had 45 days for closing but then learned in late February that the deadline would be March 9.
The vote ended in a 6-6 tie, with Aldermen at-Large Joseph Kelly Levasseur and Dan O’Neil joining with Ward 1 Alderman, Ward 9 Alderman Barbara Shaw, Ward 10 Alderman Bill Barry and Ward 11 Alderman Normand Gamache.
Sapienza, Porter and Hirschmann were joined by Ward 2 Alderman Will Stewart, Ward 3 Alderman Patrick Long, and Ward 6 Alderman Elizabeth Moreau. Ward 4 Alderman Jim Roy and Ward 7 Alderman Ross Terrio were absent.
