West Tisbury selectmen this week set the annual tax rate and discussed the status of the town solar project. At a public hearing on Wednesday, the board voted to approve a single tax rate of $5.41 per $1,000 valuation.

Well, September has slipped away rapidly and we are now in the fall season. The weekend weather was delightful but Sunday was noticeably cooler, lending a fall-like atmosphere to the air. Folks are looking forward to the Living Local Harvest Festival and Antique Power Show on Oct. 4 and 5. The Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is in full swing and the fish appear to be plentiful. The automobile traffic is definitely slower during the week as we approach the last full week of the shoulder season. Can Halloween be just 33 days away? Well, the advertising has begun in earnest.

West Tisbury will be the last Island town to decide two marijuana questions next week: one to prohibit public consumption and another to place a one-year moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in town.

The two bylaws are on the warrant for a special town meeting that begins at 7 p.m. at the West Tisbury School. Moderator F. Patrick Gregory will preside; there are seven articles on the warrant.

A state law passed last fall legalizing medical marijuana. The law went into effect Jan. 1. The state Department of Public Health issued regulations last month.

A new $2.8 million police station, several affordable housing initiatives and a watershed study for the much-debated Mill Pond will top the warrant when West Tisbury voters convene for their annual town meeting Tuesday.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the gymnasium of the West Tisbury School. Moderator F. Patrick Gregory will preside over the session; there are 37 articles on the warrant.

West Tisbury Assessors Lose Tax Challenge

By ALEXIS TONTI

The Massachusetts Court of Appeals this week overturned a decision by the state Appellate Tax Board and ruled that the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank is exempt from all taxation, upholding the power vested in the conservation agency by its enabling legislation.

The case is an appeal of a decision first made by the West Tisbury board of assessors that ordered the land bank to pay about $700 in taxes on property bought in fiscal year 2002.

The ruling was issued Wednesday.

For Conservation Commission, a Tangled Issue in Pond Docks

By MANDY LOCKE

The West Tisbury conservation commission must now act as judge and jury for a key town leader - sorting through selectman Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter's request to permit four docks in Tisbury Great Pond that he has been using for years.

The verdict must come down within three weeks, and the conservation commission - a board appointed by selectmen - isn't quite sure how to sort through the mess.

Here's what they know:

Town Defends Tax Challenge

West Tisbury Assessors Dip Heavily Into Legal Spending Coffers; Methods to Determine Values Come Under Close Scrutiny

By IAN FEIN

A pending property tax appeal in West Tisbury has triggered mounting legal bills to defend the assessors' position in a complex case that challenges their methods for determining property values.

A dozen stunned West Tisbury property owners crowded the normally quiet town assessors meeting this week to question their assessments and tax bills, which have more than doubled this year.

The residents were looking for both tax relief and an explanation of a property valuation system they said they neither understand nor trust.

Aggrieved West Tisbury taxpayers will meet this Sunday, Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. at the Howes House to review research on appraisal techniques and to prepare for a meeting next Tuesday with the town’s outside real estate appraisal company.

The town assessors have invited Vision Appraisal Technology to meet with taxpayers at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12 in the basement of the Howes House, which is across from Alley’s General Store, to discuss the company’s appraisal methodology.

The town of West Tisbury, a breeding ground for property tax rancor in recent years, had a record high $289,000 in tax abatements in 2008 based on approximately $68 million in total adjusted property values.

While town officials say the high number of abatements can be tracked directly to the current triennial real estate revaluation and a spike in waterfront property values, some residents insist that they signal a continued level of discontent with the current assessment system and the company hired to help conduct the revaluations.