How useful is the existing non-utilization tax? Since the Town has yet to enforce the tax, it’s as useful as a soup sandwich.
As it stands now, the ordinance targets “vacant, abandoned, or non-compliant commercial parcels identified by town officials” and would impose a tax rate of 10% of the property's assessed value annually ($10 per $100).
The lien for Second Story was bought at auction in 2018 for $70k. The owner, Brian Thibeault of ZJBV Properties LLC from Manchester, New Hampshire, is now asking $3 million (fair market value? sure).
The assessed value of that property in 2026 is $967,100. This would have brought the town $96,710. Since the ordinance was put in place, the town has missed out on $402,280 in potential tax revenue, taking into account the time it was leased 2023-24 (for $15k/month).
Then there’s The Bank. This building is owned by everyone’s favorite real estate mogul, Hirum Jamiel. The “For Lease” sign that gets taken down and put back up at regular intervals rivals the “will they or won’t they” relationship of Diane and Sam. This year’s assessment of $560,700 (a huge step down from the previous three years at $707,200) would bring in $56,070. Since 2020, this property would have brought in $427,680. Check my math, but that’s 829,960 clams.
We were, admittedly, not surprised to learn that since the ordinance was created back in 2020, it has yet to be enforced. As we learned during the multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the town a few years ago, the financial management of town officials has consistently been questionable. Local property taxes are sky-high, yet the town is leaving massive amounts of potential revenue on the table by failing to collect this tax. Though it apears that the relatively newly formed Finance Committee has helped to right the ship.
Anywho, we did some of our own research on two buildings that get brought up all the time:
Second Story Theatre (28 Market St) and The Bank Building (414 Main St.)
The lien for Second Story was bought at auction in 2018 for $70k. The owner, Brian Thibeault of ZJBV Properties LLC from Manchester, New Hampshire, is now asking $3 million (fair market value? sure).
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| "Second Story" - 28 Market St |
Then there’s The Bank. This building is owned by everyone’s favorite real estate mogul, Hirum Jamiel. The “For Lease” sign that gets taken down and put back up at regular intervals rivals the “will they or won’t they” relationship of Diane and Sam. This year’s assessment of $560,700 (a huge step down from the previous three years at $707,200) would bring in $56,070. Since 2020, this property would have brought in $427,680. Check my math, but that’s 829,960 clams.
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| "The Bank Building" - 414 Market St |
Here’s the rub: To avoid the penalty, these property owners must show “good faith efforts” to fill the vacant space by, among other conditions, putting the building up for lease or sale at a “price and on terms…that is realistic considering the fair market value or fair market rental value of the property.”
The current ordinance lets owners off the hook if they just "advertise" for lease or sale—they don't actually have to succeed in filling the space. It’s an easy way for owners to dodge the penalty while keeping buildings empty for years. For example, why hasn’t The Bank been leased in the last decade? It is clearly on the market, yet remains empty, even as nearly every other Main St. storefront has been occupied at some point during the same period.
The big question here is:
Why would an owner want to keep their property empty? This is the type of thing town officials must look into because the current structure isn’t working. It’s even less threatening when not actually applied.