Let's put all this information together to decide if you should appeal your assessment

Since most appeals fall under concept number two as previously stated, this is where we will concentrate our efforts. In concept three, you simply are looking for physical errors such as incorrect square foot, etc. Concept number one is generally for when a town goes through a town wide reappraisal.

The first thing we need to do is to figure out how much your property is worth. Have you had an appraisal done recently for a refinance? If so, this is a very good starting point.

Have you recently purchased your property? If you have, and the sale is considered "arms length", meaning it was a sale between buyers and sellers acting in their own best interest, not distressed, not between close family members, etc, this is the best evidence of FMV (Fair Market Value). This sale will stand as market value no matter how the listers may try to convince you otherwise.

If neither of the two situations above apply, then we must resort to the last method, which is what most appeals are based on:

We search for sales of similar properties.

There are several ways to do this. One is to go to your local real estate agent to see if they have any knowledge of sales of similar properties. You should also chat with the agent to see how much properties similar to yours are listed for.

Another is to go to the town clerk's office and read through the property transfer records (these are public records), looking for sales of properties similar to yours.

Another is to subscribe to the part of this website that has current sales records.

Whichever method you choose, you should find sales of properties that are as similar as possible to your property. If you have a cape built in 1860, you shouldn't use a ranch house built in 1989 as a comparable.

Ideally you should try to find 3 or 4 sales of similar properties.

For illustration purposes, let's say you own a cape built around 1860, on about one half acre of land, located on a typical side street in your community. Your house has a one car garage, a front porch, one full bathroom, a fireplace, and a full basement.

When researching sales you should start in your neighborhood, looking for properties that have sold which are as similar as possible to yours. In Vermont, this is not always an easy task due to the various styles, ages, locations, etc., of properties.

Once you have located a few sales, you should compare the various features, both positive and negative, between the comparable sales and your property. It may help to create a small grid to weigh the comparables against your property:

Simply by looking at this grid we can see that the subject property is more than likely over assessed. The property at 188 Sidestreet sold for $215,000 and appears in many respects to be a better property. It is larger, has more amenities (bathroom, porches & deck), slightly larger yard, and is in a similar location. It is also in similar condition. At this point I would say that the subject property is worth around $200,000.

Now we look at the assessments and find that comp 1 is not only a better home, it is also assessed for less than the subject house. If we look at comps 1 & 3, we see they are both assessed for less than their sale price. Comp 1 is under assessed by approximately 5%, and comp 3 is under assessed by approximately 8%. If we take the estimated value of the subject price and multiple it by the average under assessment of the comps (6.5%), we arrive at a value of $187,000. This is the amount the subject should be assessed at. This represents an assessment reduction of $33,000. At a tax rate of $2.98 this would be an annual tax savings of $983.40.

The state of Vermont performs annual studies to determine the coefficient of equity between the town grand list and market value for various categories of real estate. It is advisable to use these studies when applying market value/assessed value ratios.

These studies can be found at http://www.state.vt.us/tax/pvrannualreports.shtml. Look for the file labeled "Ratios by Real Property Category(All Towns by county)". It is an Excel file you can download. Once you determine what your property is worth,apply the percentage from the appropriate column. If your property is R1 you would use the percentage from the R1 column,etc.

Another item to check is the grand list for properties in your town. If you go to the grand list page of this website you can check how much other homes are assessed for. Look for properties you know are similar to yours. Are their assessments similar?

Some assessment appeals can be extremely confusing, and unfortunately, some can be very adversarial between the property owner and the Listers. If you decide to appeal you should be prepared to be turned down at the Lister's level of the appeal. This is often the case as the Lister's are in a position where they must "defend" their assessment of your property. This does not make the Listers bad people, or incompetent, or many of the other names you may want to call them. You should remember that they are trying to do a difficult job, and generally try to be objective. They are simply in a position of being on the defense as most of the time the property owner is in their office to tell them they are wrong.

Once you receive a decision from the Listers, you have 15 days to file an appeal with the BCA (Board of Civil Authority), if you are not happy with the Listers decision. At the BCA you will present your information. The Listers will also present their information. The BCA will then visit your property and view the comparable sales. The BCA will issue a written decision with their explanation of the decision.

If you are not satisfied with the BCA's decision, you can appeal to either the State board of appraisers, or to the superior court of the county your property is located in. Your final avenue of appeal is to the Vermont Supreme Court.

If you need help in your appeal I am available on a consulting basis. I find that often times a property owner just needs some guidance on what to do, or how to read some of the information in the Lister's cards, or what should be presented to the Listers, etc.

Because of the relatively short amount of time available to present assessment appeals, it is advisable to have your information prepared in advance. Waiting until the last minute will generally work against you.

I have been involved in numerous appeals. Some include:

A single family home assessment reduction of approximately $105,000.
A single family home assessment reduction of approximately $215,000.
A doublewide manufactured home assessment reduction of approximately $30,000.
A vacant woodlot assessment reduction of approximately $60,000.
A single family assessment reduction from $105,000 to $76,000.
A single family assessment reduction from $155,000 to $125,000.
A single family home assessment reduction of $1,002,000. Assessment reduced from $2,302,000 to $1,300,000.