Tax Assessors Rescind Abernathy Breach

At a Tax Assessors meeting on July 21st, the Board of Tax Assessors unanimously approved to rescind a breach on a piece of property belonging to Barry Abernathy in order to put the property back into conservation use.The property, belonging to Abernathy, which was breached back in 2008 was put back into conversation use after the board concluded in it’s meeting on Thursday that they could not sustain a defense for the decision of the breach.

“I motion that we rescind the breach and put the property back into conservation,”

said Randy Bell, a current board member. Bell made the motion after announcing that the Board had figured out that due to incomplete records, they could not sustain a defense for the breach.

The property belonging to Abernathy, identified by the Board of Assessors as parcel number 3147-007 was breached in 2008 after Abernathy did not file a continuation on the property after it was deeded to him. The property, which was first signed up for Conversation Use in 2003, was deeded to Abernathy in 2007.

Upon receiving the property, Abernathy was suppose to file for a continuation on the Conservation Covenant for the property but did not, and therefore the board was entitled to initiate a breach on the Covenant of the property.

However, the breach was not voted-on and declared by the County Board of Assessors as required in Regulation. Instead, Abernathy, who was given a notice of intent on April 14th, 2008, was subsequently given a breach penalty bill on April 17th, 2008.

Bell, the Tax Assessor who researched Abernathy’s case, told FYN that in 2008, legislature added a subsection to the law that effectively amended the breach notice provision from 15 days to 30 days and also added a provision in the law for remediation following a breach notice. According to Bell, this means that the County’s Tax Assessor’s Board at that time should have at least given Abernathy until April 29th to continue his Covenant.

Abernathy, who was in attendance at the meeting, thanked the board after it’s decision.

“I would first like to thank you,”

said Abernathy on Thursday,

“It has been a long hard road…I honestly believe that this thing was slanted…I did not have a clue that this was going to be done this way.”

To see the board’s decision on Thursday, please watch the video below.