West Tisbury assessors in recent weeks have approved a record number of real estate tax abatements, with more to come in the aftermath of flood of abatement applications this spring.

Some $197,000 in abatements, representing more than $44 million in real estate value, had been approved by the end of the fiscal year on June 30 and the final total will be higher, said principal assessor Kristina West.

The town granted about $130,000 in abatements in 2005, likely the previous record, she said.

“I have about $235,000 in total abatements through the first week in July with about 32 abatements to be heard,” Ms. West said.

She said abatement hearings should be completed within a month.

The town received 108 requests for tax abatements by the Feb. 1, 2008 deadline. A townwide revaluation was completed in 2007 by Vision Appraisal Technology of Northboro.

Following the revaluation some waterfront and near waterfront property owners saw their tax bills double and triple.

Properties around the Tisbury Great Pond and at Seven Gates Farm were hit hardest.

In their first round of abatements in late March, assessors approved seven of 57 abatements filed by residents of those neighborhoods. Abatements applications from those two areas represented more than half the total applications.

Property tax bills were the subject of a number of public meetings this spring, including one where a Vision spokesman was on hand to explain the methodology for computing assessments.

There were questions about whether the town assessments had been unfairly skewed by a handful of large real estate transactions that may not have been arm’s length sales. West Tisbury town accountant Bruce Stone said this week that the town has most of the money set aside to cover the abatements.

“The real impact next year will be an additional $14,000 to be raised. When the 2008 abatements are concluded, there may be more significant impact in 2010,” he said.

Ms. West said the abatements run the gamut from a few thousand dollars in value to seven-figure reductions in value.

“Some of the abatements result from incorrect information in town records,” she said, adding “We’ve abated houses that have two and one half baths that we show having three baths, that sort of thing.”

Most abatements however, were about overall valuation.

Mike and Mary Jane Pease received a $14,500 property tax abatement, although their application was nearly not allowed to be heard.

The Peases filed for an abatement but missed the Feb. 1 deadline because their application was mailed to the wrong address.

The town assessors tried to allow an exception but the state Department of Revenue ruled that because the Peases had missed the deadline they were out of luck. But recently the department reversed itself and allowed the assessors to consider the abatement.

The assessment on the Peases’ two-acre waterfront property and camp on the Tisbury Great Pond was reduced from $9 million to $6 million.