The Vermont Statutes Online
The Vermont Statutes Online have been updated to include the actions of the 2023 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Title 32 : Taxation and Finance
Chapter 131 : Appeals
Subchapter 002 : To Director or to Superior Court
(Cite as: 32 V.S.A. § 4467)-
§ 4467. Determination of appeal
(a) Upon appeal to the Director or the court, the hearing officer or court shall proceed de novo and determine the correct valuation of the property as promptly as practicable and to 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 hearing officer or court shall take into account the requirements of law as to valuation, and the provisions of Chapter I, Article 9 of the Constitution of Vermont and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
(b) If the hearing officer 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 town, the hearing officer or court shall set the property in the list at a corresponding value. The findings and determinations of the hearing officer shall be made in writing and shall be available to the appellant.
(c)(1) If the appeal is taken to the Director, the hearing officer may inspect the property prior to making a determination, unless one of the parties requests an inspection, in which case the hearing officer shall inspect the property prior to making a determination. Within 10 days of the appeal being filed with the Director, the Director shall notify the property owner in writing of the Director’s option to request an inspection under this section.
(2) During a declared state of emergency under 20 V.S.A. chapter 1, a hearing officer shall not be required to physically inspect any property that is the subject of an appeal. If the appellant requests in writing that the property be inspected for purposes of the appeal, the hearing officer 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 If the appellant does not facilitate the inspection through electronic means, then the appeal shall be deemed withdrawn.
(3) As used in this subsection, “electronic means” means the transmittal of video or photographic evidence by the appellant at the direction of the hearing officer conducting the inspection. (Added 1969, No. 253 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1973, No. 104, § 4, eff. April 25, 1973, operative only with respect to appeals brought after that date; 1983, No. 215 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 10, 1984; 1995, No. 178 (Adj. Sess.), § 295; 1999, No. 49, § 16, eff. June 2, 1999; 2003, No. 76 (Adj. Sess.), § 12, eff. Feb. 17, 2004; 2013, No. 73, § 34; 2015, No. 134 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. May 25, 2016; 2021, No. 157 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, eff. July 1, 2022.)
