Recently the Assessment Review Board (ARB) reduced a
contaminated property's value for taxation to zero. The ARB is
the tribunal that determines disputes on the assessed value of
property. Municipal taxes are based on a property's assessed
value.
The property in question, a residential house, was built on a
source of methane gas. The issue was whether the property had any
value because of the methane on the property. The property owners
gave evidence of very high levels of methane on the property.
A methane gas alarm inside the house was frequently going off,
and the fire department had been called several times because of
the alarms.
Consulting engineers found that the methane control system
installed at the time the house was built was not up to current
standards and testified that the source of methane needed to be
removed. They estimated that the cost of repairs would exceed the
value of the house.
