SCARBOROUGH – A fight over last year’s spike in the assessment of waterfront properties in Scarborough got sidelined by a technical foul-up Monday, when malfunctioning microphones unleashed a torrent of static-charged feedback into the meeting room and prevented broadcast of the session over community television.

The Board of Assessment Review first met for an hour behind closed doors with its attorney, Durward Parkson, of Kennebunk firm Bergin & Parkson. It then canceled the meeting about 45 minutes after returning to open session, during the testimony of former town assessor Paul Lesperance.

“They decided that, to be fair to everyone, it would be best to continue another time,” said the board’s recording secretary, Tracy Cole, on Tuesday.

The 44 appeals, from owners of waterfront property on Higgins Beach and Pine Point, were to have been considered in a group. They will be heard again at 6 p.m. on Sept. 23. In the meantime, one appeal from a Prouts Neck resident will be heard Aug. 27, and another for a commercial property will be heard Sept. 17.

After the do-over of Monday’s session, 23 appeals will be heard in one batch from the Prout’s Neck waterfront area. Six appeals for inland properties on Prouts Neck will be heard Nov. 5.

Last year, a partial reassessment saw land values for many of those homes jump 25 percent, and some as much as 40 percent. Nearly 100 homeowners appealed those assessments.

On July 15, Pine Point resident Don Petrin and one other local resident met with Michael Rogers, the supervisor of municipal services for the Maine Revenue Service. Petrin claims former assessor Paul Lesperance unfairly targeted the beachfront homes to raise revenue for the town, failing to conduct a proper market analysis to justify his new values. Lesperance retired in March after nearly three decades with the town, but he has remained on a per diem basis to handle the appeals.

In a July 29 interview, Rogers declined to discuss the meeting with Petrin or details of a report he prepared on the quality of Lesperance’s work. That report, originally slated for release last week, was due out on Monday, after review by Roger’s supervisor, according to Maine Revenue spokesman David Heidrich. However, Rogers did drop one small hint that it might not read as Petrin hopes.

“I don’t think they’re going to like it,” he said.

Rogers’ report has been promised by his department, “by the end of the week,” every week since Aug. 1.

During the part of Monday’s meeting that occurred between feedback loops, Lesperance said, “the only thing I did was to equalize the assessments.”

Sales slowed everywhere in town with the 2008 recession, he said, and while he did adjust many values downward, waterfront property continued to climb in price, when sales happened.

“In 2012, I increased 279 values, most with a water influence, but decreased 475,” he said. “I had enough sales data to show that I could not defend those valuations. I don’t bluff people. I don’t wait for them to come in to ask for an abatement if I have sales to show that values need to be decreased.”

Although there were only four property sales in Higgins Beach between 2005 and April 1, 2011, all showed marked increases in selling prices, he said.

Lesperance said he was actually “conservative” in how he adjusted all waterfront property at Higgins Beach based on those sales. Before adjustments based on one 2011 sale, homes in the area were assessed by the town at 69 to 85 percent of market value. After the change, values averaged 89 percent.

“I could have gone a little higher,” he said. “That one sale would have been a little high, but then the other three would have been closer to 100 percent.”

In 2006, a Pillsbury Drive property was the first in the area to sell for more than $1 million, selling at $1.3 million, although the assessment remained at $1.05 million.

“That taxpayer didn’t come see me to ask why that assessment was lower than the selling price,” said Lesperance. “They never do.”

June 2007 saw the first $2 million sale at Pine Point, but “still assessments did not change,” said Lesperance.

“I didn’t change the assessment because you kept hearing it was a [waist] buckle the economy was going to burst. I waited,” said Lesperance. “When I did finally increase assessments, once I had the data to go on, I didn’t use any other sales from any other beaches to refigure these properties. Higgins and Pine Point are two different markets. In the 29 years I’ve been here I’ve never combined those sales.”