I. Whenever a taxable building is damaged due to unintended fire or natural disaster to the extent that it renders the building not able to be used for its intended use, the assessing officials shall prorate the assessment for the building for the current tax year. For purposes of this paragraph, an unintended fire means a fire which does not arise out of any act committed by or at the direction of the property owner with the intent to cause a loss.
II. The proration of the building assessment shall be based on the number of days that the building was available for its intended use divided by the number of days in the tax year, multiplied by the building assessment.
III. A person aggrieved of a property tax for a building damaged as provided in paragraph I shall file an application with the assessing officials in writing within 60 days of the event described in paragraph I or by March 1, whichever is later.
IV. Proration of the assessment shall be denied if the assessing officials determine that the applicant did not meet the requirements of this section or acted in bad faith.
V. The total tax reduction from proration under this section for any city or town shall be limited to an amount equal to
1/2 of one percent of the total property taxes committed in the tax year. If the assessing officials determine that it is likely that this limit will be reached, the proration shall not be applied to any additional properties.
VI. Nothing in this section shall limit the ability of the assessing officials to abate taxes for good cause shown pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 76:16.
VII. Appeals of a decision under this section shall be to the board of tax and land appeals or the superior court as set forth in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 76:16-a or N.H. Rev. Stat. § 76:17.