Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 32 Sec. 3760

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Assessing officials: means the listers or other assessing authority of the municipality or the State of Vermont. See
  • Board: means the Current Use Advisory Board established in section 3753 of this chapter. See
  • Director: means the Director of the Division of Property Valuation and Review created by 3 V. See
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
  • Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
  • Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See

§ 3760. Payment to municipalities

(a)(1) Annually, the State shall pay to each municipality the amount necessary to limit its tax rate increase in the prior year due to the loss of municipal property tax revenue for that year based on use value of enrolled property as compared to municipal property tax revenue for that year based on fair market value of enrolled property, to zero.

(2) The Director of Property Valuation and Review shall determine the amount of the available funds under this section to be paid to each municipality, and a municipality may appeal the Director’s decision in the same manner and under the same procedures as an appeal from a decision of a Board of Civil Authority, as set forth in chapter 131, subchapter 2 of this title.

(3) On November 1 of each year, the Director of Property Valuation and Review shall pay to each municipality the amount calculated as described in this section. If the appropriation for the year is insufficient to pay the full amount due to every municipality under this subsection, payments in that year shall be made to such towns proportionately.

(4) If the appropriation for the year is insufficient to pay the full amount due to any municipality for enrolled property owned by another municipality, the municipality in which the property is located may assess the other municipality and the other municipality shall pay the difference.

(5) The Director’s calculation of payment amounts to municipalities shall be based on grand list values and total tax appropriations as submitted to the Director for the prior year.

(b) Assessing officials shall appraise property enrolled in the program at fair market value consistent with other appraisals. On or before July 5, the assessing officials shall provide the Director with the listed value of all enrolled property in the municipality. If the Director certifies that the value set by the assessing officials is significantly above the fair market value or is not equitable with other assessments, the Director’s estimate of the fair market value shall be substituted for that of the assessing officials.

(c) A town aggrieved by the Director’s decision under this section may appeal that decision under the same procedures as an appeal from a decision of the Board of Civil Authority. (Added 1995, No. 178 (Adj. Sess.), § 292a; amended 1997, No. 60, § 63, eff. June 26, 1997; 2003, No. 66, § 287; 2007, No. 205 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, eff. June 10, 2008.)