Vermont Statutes Title 32 Sec. 3760a
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 32 Sec. 3760a
- Appraisal: A determination of property value.
- Assessing officials: means the listers or other assessing authority of the municipality or the State of Vermont. See
- Director: means the Director of the Division of Property Valuation and Review created by 3 V. See
- 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.
- Farm buildings: means all farm buildings and other farm improvements that are actively used by a farmer as part of a farming operation, are owned by a farmer or leased to a farmer under a written lease for a term of three years or more, and are situated on land that is enrolled in a use value appraisal program or on a housesite adjoining enrolled land. See
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. 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
§ 3760a. Valuation audits
(a) Annually, the Director shall conduct an audit of three towns with enrolled land to ensure that parcels with a use value appraisal are appraised by the local assessing officials consistent with the appraisals for nonenrolled parcels.
(b) In determining which towns to select for an audit, the Director shall consider factors that demonstrate a deviation from consistent valuations, including the following:
(1) the fair market value per acre of enrolled land in each town;
(2) the fair market value of enrolled land versus unenrolled land in the same town;
(3) the fair market value of enrolled farm buildings in each town; and
(4) the fair market value of enrolled farm buildings in relation to the fair market value of the associated land.
(c) For each town selected for an audit, the Director shall:
(1) conduct an independent appraisal of enrolled parcels and enrolled farm buildings in that town;
(2) compare the appraisals reached by the Director for each enrolled parcel with the appraisal reached by the local assessing officials; and
(3) review the land schedule and appraisal model applied by the town.
(d) If, as a result of an audit, the Director determines that an appraisal reached by the Director differs from the appraisal reached by the local assessing officials by more than 10 percent, then the Director shall substitute his or her appraisal of fair market value for the appraisal reached by the local assessing officials. A substitution of a fair market appraisal under this subsection shall be treated as a substitution by the Director under subsection 3760(b) of this title. (Added 2015, No. 57, § 56, eff. June 11, 2015.)