NEW VINEYARD — Townspeople have voted down a proposed tax assessment review ordinance, which would have prevented tax abatement appeals from going to Franklin County commissioners.

About 80 people crowded into the second floor of Smith Hall on Tuesday night to vote on a proposal to allow selectmen to appoint three members and two alternates to a new Board of Assessment Review. The board would hear requests for tax abatements that selectmen choose not to grant. Currently, taxpayers appeal abatement cases with the commissioners before going to county or state courts.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Fay Adams explained that a local board would be a more efficient and accurate alternative, because commissioners were not trained or qualified to review New Vineyard tax assessments. She sought advice from Maine Municipal Association’s legal counsel, and said she learned few town boards win appeals cases at state court levels. Costs also can be prohibitive.

“A court case would cost us possibly $20,000, and we would not be sure we’d win,” she said. “I’m not about to spend $20,000 in legal fees, and I think we should do our own dirty laundry in our town.”

Since 2007, residents Jon and Alyce Cavanaugh have appealed the valuation of their house and property. They said selectmen have denied them a satisfactory abatement, and they have gone to the commissioners, who overturned the selectmen’s decision.

Alyce Cavanaugh suggested that all taxpayers could encounter selectmen’s resistance if they dared question the selectmen’s assessment of their property taxes. She protested the difficulty of getting tax records to check for accuracy and suggested that calculation errors benefit some and hurt others.

The hour-long debate provided an opportunity for citizens to request clarification of the ordinance limits and governance. One resident asked how taxpayers could be guaranteed that a selectmen-appointed assessment review committee would act fairly and independently, after the selectmen had denied the property owner an abatement. Comments often were confrontational and belligerent. Finally, one resident asked the audience to stop the angry rhetoric and personal attacks.

“I am Francis Bliss, and I live here,” he said. “This has gone far beyond the reason we came here, and we’re sitting around saying nasty things about each other.”

He urged the gathering to postpone a vote until everyone had studied the situation.

“We’re almost as bad as the folks down in Washington,” he said, drawing a round of laughter.

Voters cast paper ballots, and moderator Paul Mills announced that the ordinance failed by a vote of 31-44.

Voters approved appropriating $25,000 to improve the cemetery on Route 27, allowing road access and additional burial plots.