Property Tax & Valuation Team

BERNSTEIN, SHUR, SAWYER & NELSON, P.A. Portland, ME | Augusta, ME bernsteinshur.com 207 774-1200 207 623-1596

For more than seven decades, we have counseled municipalities and private clients on local taxation, property valuation and assessment. We have a proven record of specialized knowledge and breadth of experience in the area of local taxation and tax incentive programs.

Clients rely on our property tax valuation knowledge in many settings, including economic development, trusts and estates, bankruptcy, real property conveyances, easements, leases and financial and construction transactions.

Our Approach

Bernstein Shur has a holistic understanding of the methodologies used to determine the fair market value of real and personal property and the host of factors that affect property valuation. Several of our attorneys hold advanced degrees in public administration, and we have broad experience in financial analysis and modeling. We quickly can review a property’s recent tax activity, income and sales information, capital expenditure budgets, and other relevant information to fully analyze assessments from a comparative and market standpoint. Our seasoned approach is informed, cost-effective and value-oriented.

We are a member of the National Association of Property Tax Attorneys and track and monitor regulatory and administrative changes.

Property Tax Abatements and Appeals: Challenges to a Property’s Assessed Value

We assist private and public clients with abatement, exemption and valuation applications and appeals concerning municipal property taxation. We have decades of collective experience representing clients before all levels of the appeals process, including before the local municipal assessor, Boards of Assessment Review and County Commissioners, the State Board of Property Tax Review, the Superior Court, and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Project Development Valuation and Financial Modeling

By making project valuation for property tax purposes a more central component of the development process, developers can anticipate and often reduce future tax obligations. Our attorneys routinely work with private clients to create financial modeling and analysis of predicted local property taxes and integrate this information into economic development program applications.

We project the anticipated assessed valuation of commercial and residential development, the impact on a local community’s mil rate and state-funded municipal subsidies, and the resulting property tax obligations and tax increment financing revenues.

Bernstein ShurProperty Tax & Valuation Team

Property Valuation & Assessment

Nationally Known and Respected

Local and national clients rely on our Property Tax and Valuation Team for guidance in valuation and how a property is locally assessed. Rather than relitigating the same issue every year, we develop methodologies that that can be applied across multiple tax years, thereby reducing costs for the taxpayers while also maximizing savings to the property owner.

Abatements & Appeals

Our attorneys have litigated many of the state’s largest and most important tax appeals, including:

• Bath Iron Works v. Bath• Champion International v. Bucksport• Central Maine Power Company v. Yarmouth• Great Cove Boat Club v. Eliot• Northeast Empire #2 LP v. Ashland• Maine Medical Center v. Falmouth• Great Northern Paper Company v.

East Millinocket• Cushing Holdings, LLC et al. v. Cushing

Clients & Industries

Energy• Wind turbine generators• Generator leads and transmission lines• Biomass • Hydroelectric and waste-to-energy

generators• Utility personal property assets

Industrial and Commercial Properties• Office buildings• Medical office buildings and practices• Factories• Construction-related projects• Pulp and paper facilities• Shopping centers• Restaurants

Residential Properties • Multi-unit residential developments• Condominiums• Shorefront residential homes• Properties enrolled in Maine’s current

land use programs

Property Valuation & Assessment Services

• Tax abatement

• Assessment appeals

• Project development valuation and financial modeling

• Tax exemptions and Maine’s current land use programs

• Tree Growth• Farmland• Open Space• Working Waterfront

• Tax liens• Condemnation

Bernstein ShurProperty Tax & Valuation Team Members

Robert J. Crawford, Esq.

rcrawford@bernsteinshur.com 207 228-7203 Augusta, ME

Joan M. Fortin, Esq.

jfortin@bernsteinshur.com 207 228-7310 Portland, ME

N. Joel Moser, Esq., M.P.A. jmoser@bernsteinshur.com 207 228-7155 Portland, ME

Rob chairs the Property Tax and Valuation Team and has more than 100 days of experience before the State Board of Property Tax Review. He is the Maine representative of the National Association of Property Tax Attorneys.

Joan’s practice involves property taxation and economic development, tax increment financing, zoning and land use and environmental matters. She was instrumental in creating the first TIF district in an unorganized territory in Maine.

Joel is co-chair of the Property Tax and Valuation Team. He assists public and private clients in all aspects of property taxation, represents private clients in modeling and analysis of local property taxes, and the resulting property tax obligations and tax increment financing revenues.

Lee K. Bragg, Esq.

lbragg@bernsteinshur.com 207 623-1596 Augusta, ME

Lee devotes his practice exclusively to public sector matters, with an emphasis on public finance and bond work and property tax matters.

Shana Cook Mueller, Esq., M.P.A.

smueller@bernsteinshur.com 207 228-7134 Portland, ME

Shana’s practice focuses on economic development, property taxaction, tax increment financing, public finance and municipal bonds, land use law and general municipal law.

Roy W. Tilsley, Jr., Esq.

rtilsley@bernsteinshur.com 603 623-8700 Manchester, NH

Roy’s practice focuses on real estate law, business transactions and related litigation. He regularly appears before various municipal boards on behalf of real estate developers, and has litigated complex boundary line disputes, tax abatements and municipal reassessment cases.

Andru H. Volinsky, Esq.

avolinsky@bernsteinshur.com 603 623-8700 Manchester, NH

Andy’s practice focuses on commercial litigation, valuation and business disputes, and local and state administrative law. He serves as a member of the firm’s board of directors and as its general counsel.