32 V.S.A. § 3420: Appeals to Commissioner or to Superior Court [Effective January 1, 2031]

(a) A taxpayer or the legislative body of a municipality aggrieved by a written determination of a regional assessment district appeals board under section 3419 of this chapter, or a taxpayer aggrieved by a valuation and bypassed a board decision under subsection 3419(d) of this subchapter, may appeal to either the Commissioner of Taxes or the Superior Court of the county in which the property is located. The appeal to the Superior Court shall be heard without a jury. For an appeal from the board, the appeal shall be commenced by filing a notice of appeal pursuant to Rule 74 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure within 30 days after entry of the decision of the board. For an appeal that bypassed the board, the appeal may be commenced by filing a notice of appeal pursuant to Rule 74 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure within 30 days following the date of notice of a final valuation decision of an assessing official. The date of mailing of notice of the board’s determination to the taxpayer shall be deemed the date of entry of the board’s determination. The board shall transmit a copy of the notice to the Commissioner or the Superior Court and shall forward the notice to the applicable municipal clerk, who shall record or attach a copy of the notice in the grand list book. The entry fee for an appeal to the Commissioner is $70.00; provided, however, that the Commissioner may waive, reduce, or refund the entry fee in cases of hardship or to join appeals regarding the same parcel. If, in the opinion of the Commissioner, an appeal under this subsection involves a complex or unique property or valuation that would be best adjudicated by the Superior Court, the Commissioner may decline to hear the appeal and shall forward the appeal to the Superior Court of the county in which the property is located, where it shall be heard. An appeal forwarded by the Commissioner under this subsection shall be considered timely filed in the Superior Court if it was timely appealed to the Commissioner.

(b) On or before the last day on which appeals may be taken from the determination of the regional assessment district appeals board, an agent designated by the legislative body of the municipality, in the name of the municipality, on written application of one or more taxpayers of the municipality whose combined grand list represents at least three percent of the grand list of the municipality for the preceding year, shall appeal to the Superior Court from any action of the regional assessment district board of appeal not involving appeals of the applying taxpayers. However, the agent designated by the legislative body shall, in any event, have at least six business days after receipt of such taxpayers’ application for appeal in which to take the appeal, and the date for the taking of such appeal shall accordingly be extended, if necessary, until the six business days shall have elapsed. The $70.00 entry fee shall be paid by the applicants with respect to each individual property thus being appealed that is separately listed in the grand list. Fees collected under subsection (a) of this section or under this subsection shall be credited to a special fund established and managed pursuant to chapter 7, subchapter 5 of this title and shall be available to the Commissioner of Taxes to offset the costs of providing those services.

(c) When a taxpayer, a legislative body of the municipality, or an agent designated by the legislative body of the municipality claims that an appeal to the Commissioner is in any manner defective or was not lawfully taken, on or before 30 days after mailing of the notice of receipt of the appeal by the Director, the taxpayer, agent, or legislative body of the municipality shall file objections in writing with the Commissioner and furnish the appellant or appellant’s attorney with a copy of the objections. When the taxpayer, agent, or legislative body so requests, the Commissioner shall thereupon fix a time and place for hearing the objections and shall notify all parties thereof, by mail or otherwise. Upon hearing or otherwise, the Commissioner shall pass upon the objections and make such order in relation thereto as is required by law. The order shall be recorded or attached in the municipal clerk’s office in the book wherein the appeal is recorded.

(d) On application to the Commissioner, an appellant may request leave to withdraw the appellant’s appeal at any time before it is heard. When an appeal is withdrawn, the Commissioner shall certify the withdrawal to the clerk of the municipality in which the underlying property is located, and the clerk shall record the certificate of withdrawal of the appeal. At the same time, the Commissioner shall notify the applicable regional assessment district board of appeal. The appraisal from which the appeal was taken shall then become a part of the appraisal or grand list of the taxpayer.

(e) When an appeal to the Commissioner is not withdrawn or forwarded by the Commissioner to the Superior Court pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the Commissioner shall conduct a hearing in accordance with 3 V.S.A. chapter 25.

(f) The Commissioner or court shall proceed de novo on all appeals and determine the correct valuation of the property as promptly as practicable and determine a homestead and a housesite value if a homestead has been declared with respect to the property for the year in which the appeal is taken. The Commissioner or court shall take into account the requirements of law as to valuation and the provisions of Chapter I, Article 9 of the Vermont Constitution and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

(1) If the Commissioner or court finds that the listed value of the property subject to appeal does not correspond to the listed value of comparable properties within the municipality, the Commissioner or court shall set the property in the list at a corresponding value. The findings and determinations of the Commissioner shall be made in writing and shall be available to the appellant.

(2) If the appeal is taken to the Commissioner, the Commissioner may order an inspection of the property prior to making a determination. If one of the parties requests an inspection, the Commissioner shall order an inspection of the property prior to making a determination. Within 10 days following the appeal being filed with the Commissioner, the Commissioner shall notify the property owner in writing of the Commissioner’s option to request an inspection under this section.

(3) During a declared state of emergency under 20 V.S.A. chapter 1, the Commissioner shall not be required to have any property subject to appeal be physically inspected. If the appellant requests in writing that the property be inspected for purposes of the appeal, the Commissioner shall conduct the inspection through electronic means. If the appellant does not facilitate the inspection through electronic means, then the appeal shall be deemed withdrawn. As used in this subdivision, “electronic means” means the transmittal of video or photographic evidence by the appellant at the direction of the person conducting the inspection.

(g) The Commissioner or clerk of the court shall forward by certified mail one copy of the determination to the taxpayer, one copy to the applicable regional assessment district board of appeal, and one copy to the town clerk, who shall record the same in the book in which the appeal was recorded under subsection (a) of this section. The appraisal so fixed by the Commissioner or court shall become the basis for the grand list of the taxpayer for the year in which the appeal is taken and, if the appraisal relates to real property, for the next two ensuing years, except that if the real property is enrolled in the use value appraisal program under chapter 124 of this title, the value of enrolled land, prior to its being equalized, shall be the per-acre value set annually by the Current Use Advisory Board multiplied by the number of acres enrolled. The appraisal, however, may be changed in the ensuing two years if the taxpayer’s property is materially altered, changed, or damaged or if the regional assessment district of the municipality in which the property is located has undergone a full reappraisal.