In any town, information such as homeowners’ names, addresses and appraised value of their homes is on file for anyone to access at their local tax assessor’s office. However, in Windham, the posting of this information online, along with town tax maps, has drawn fire from some town councilors who are concerned for homeowners’ privacy.
The “tax assessor’s database,” as it is called, has recently been taken offline until the town council can discuss the issue in depth. In the meantime, this has put strain on tax assessing staff and has caused an inconvenience for mortgage brokers, realtors, general taxpayers and others who use the database for personal or business purposes.
At a Town Council workshop on Oct. 4, Windham Tax Assessor David Sawyer briefly discussed the “tax assessor’s database” while explaining the town’s upcoming reevaluation.
Some councilors raised concern over the online database and, in particular, the possibility of putting pictures of taxpayers’ houses on the town’s Web site – www.windhamweb.com. Councilor Carol Waig argued that pictures and tax information would give criminals an opportunity to “scope out” target houses from the comfort of their living rooms.
“That map and all the personal information on there can lead anyone to your house,” Waig said. “It can take them to your front door.”
After the Oct. 4 meeting, Waig was surprised to find the “tax assessor database” already online. This information online poses not only problem for potential burglaries, she said, but for cases of domestic violence as well. Waig also said she is regularly harassed by Realtors who mail or phone her house asking if she wants to sell the 16 acres her house sits on.
“I understand that there isn’t anything that can be done with it being public knowledge,” Waig said. “But I don’t think we need to make it easier for criminals or Realtors to find your house.”
Waig asked Sawyer and Town Manager Anthony Plante to take the database offline until the council had the chance to discuss the issue. Waig said several other councilors have similar concerns.
Councilor Elizabeth Wisecup said she has received phone calls from concerned taxpayers who didn’t realize this information had been posted online. While she understands the information is a matter of public record, she is concerned about the amount of detail provided by the database. She is interested in seeing whether it is possible for residents to “opt out” of having their tax information online.
With the database now offline, calls have been “non-stop” at the tax assessor’s office and staff is busy fetching information for business people and taxpayers.
“This is normally a quieter time of year,” said Kara Taylor, administrative assistant for the tax assessor’s office. “It’s made an inconvenience for a lot of people, and they’ve certainly expressed that.”
Sharon Bard-Young, President of Maine Street Mortgage on Route 302 in North Windham, said she checked the database once a week when it was online and, in her opinion, the “positives outweigh the negatives.”
She used the database to show clients how much the town appraised their house before the clients decided to commit to a mortgage appraisal. This often saves clients money who may decide against such an appraisal once they see the town’s assessment of their property, she said.
“I find it most helpful for our customers,” Bard-Young said. “They are quite happy when we can jump online and find that information for them.”
Tom Noonan, co-owner of local Allied Real Estate, has had to change the way he does business because the database is offline. The database was a quick-reference tool, he says.
“The fact that the database is down really throws a wrench into (the process),” Noonan said. “We’re not able to access the information as quickly and serve clients as quickly.”
Noonan now has to schedule time to go down to the tax assessor’s office to gather information his clients need. He says taking the database down is an “extreme response” and asks whether the concerns outweigh the right to public access.
Noonan, and the 30 real estate agents who work for Allied, regularly use other towns’ online databases like Gorham and Raymond, he said.
Town Manager Anthony Plante sees both sides of debate and said, “rather than have this turn into a big issue, the database was taken offline.”
“Like any technology, it has a good side and a bad side,” he added.
Because the information is a matter of public record, Plante said all the information must be put online or none of at all and that individual taxpayers would not be able to opt out.
The town council will be discussing the issue further during a workshop session on Jan. 17.
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