In 2008, the Searsburg grand list was $20,305,500, excluding town property. No town officials could provide The Deerfield Valley News with the 2009 grand list total. However, Searsburg Selectboard member Sandy Gazek said the 2009 grand list “doubled” and town clerk Josie Kilbride said the common level of appraisal was 111%, which was categorized in the 60th percentile in the state. When asked if the burden of taxation was equal, Kilbride said “it was pretty equal.”
Searsburg hired Spencer Potter, of Vermont Municipal Assessors, to conduct the reappraisal. Potter is also the appraiser for Readsboro, which also had a reappraisal done this year. Homeowners accuse Potter of making several mistakes such as overvaluing houses, incorrectly listing household items that never existed, and measuring incorrectly.
Gary Sage said his house, built in 1939, was valued at $73,000 in 1999. Now he says his property is worth $153,700, including 10% depreciation. Sage says his house incurred a 111% increase in property value and he could not understand why his property jumped $80,7000. “Nobody is getting any answers. They’re supposed to be the experts. They’re not. It’s nuts,” says Sage.
Sage grieved his appraisal and received $12,000 off his current property value. He believes it’s still not enough and he is taking his case to the board of civil authority.
Potter says the goal of the reappraisal is to set the grand list for each property at its current market value. Potter said there was a big difference in the grand lists because assessments were much lower when they were done 10 years ago. Since it was such a long time since the last appraisal, Potter said home values have increased significantly. “We’re measuring what buyers and sellers do,” said Potter. “Values have gone up over the last ten years because buyers are paying a whole lot more than they did ten years ago. We’re only measuring the market.”
Tom Shea owns three properties in Searsburg. One of them is a 1940 log cabin. Ten years ago the property was worth $107,000. Today, he says it’s worth $271,000. Shea said Potter assessed his property and listed one thing that was not included. “He said I have a wood stove. I don’t have one. It’s a 25’ by 35’ cabin, so it’s not like you can hide stuff. It’s the same size as a trailer.”
Shea said there was also no depreciation factored into the cabin’s final value. He attended an open meeting June 15 and asked Potter directly how he came to the conclusion. Shea said Potter never answered his question. Instead, Shea claims Potter talked only to the listers. Shea also grieved and was given 15% depreciation on his $271,000 log cabin.
Potter said he looked at the number of homes sold in Searsburg and Readsboro over the last few years. He said there “weren’t that many in Searsburg and Readsboro” but he did not provide specifics. But Potter added that home sales are low across Vermont and the situation is not just restricted to Searsburg and Readsboro. The town of Rutland underwent a reappraisal for the first time in ten years and their grand list total increased by 73%, according to The Rutland Herald. Rutland and Searsburg are not alone. In Wilmington, town lister Gerald Osler said last year’s grand list was estimated to be at 52% of fair market value. After their recent reappraisal, Wilmington property values increased 75% since the last reappraisal in 1999.
Richard Day, of Saint Albans, grieved seven properties in Searsburg. Three of the properties are in his name. Two are listed under his mother and uncle, Marian and Marion Stark. Another belongs to Francis Hager, Day’s guardian. The other belongs to Day’s ex-wife, Linda Becher. Before the appraisal, all the properties totaled $117,800. Now, the grand total is $320,000. Day said there were multiple incorrect entries when his properties were assessed. He said things were assessed in excess of their market values. Like Shea, Day said Potter listed items that never existed. Day received $82,000 off all the properties. However, he remains highly suspicious about the process. “The Department of Taxes picks and chooses who the appraisers are. The towns are required to choose from these people. It’s all an inside game,” said Day.
Potter believes the Searsburg appraisal process was done fairly. He said property owners were given a chance to grieve and they could appeal the appraiser’s decisions to the board of civil authority. Potter acknowledged that some properties were assessed incorrectly and were handled appropriately during the grievance period. Potter said he understood homeowners’ concerns and added that it’s “an emotional process that we go through.” Despite the process, Potter maintains he dealt with the Searsburg reappraisal properly. “We only act as advisors to the board of listers. They determined what the results were and I only made recommendations Sometimes they agreed with me, sometimes they didn’t. I can’t control the numbers.”
One resident says the rise in property values has more to do with state taxes. Jerry DeGray’s property was worth $187,000 ten years ago but is now up to $495,100, a 265% increase. DeGray said he is paying an additional $3,600 as a result of the appraisal and he believes state taxes, such as Act 60, are the primary reason for the increase. “The state of Vermont is bending us over and they’re forcing us to reassess. Everyone expects an increase. But a jump like this, how do you respond?” asked DeGray.
The board of civil authority will be listening to appeals August 8 and 9. For more information call the town clerk at (802) 464-8081.
The Grand List was used to list real and personal property to determine each member of societies wealth. Todays grand list targets R-1 and R-2 real estate owners, homes with small acrearge and homes with large acrages.
Personal property is not listed because the legislature has eliminated the need illegally turning the original property tax into a direct tax on real estate. The appraised value of the home, real estate owned, becomes the base for the tax you pay. The apprasial does even consider whether or not you have a mortgage which clearly should result in having the bank or mortgage company pay taxes on the amount still owed.
Taxes target the poorer of us you wouldnt want the corporations to pay their fair share by taxing according to wealth, the people wouldnt need to pay anything.
The Listed Value of R-1 property across the state for R-1 property is 29,782,008,205 BILLION DOLLARS, R-2 property value is 14,510,045,080 BILLION DOLLARS. Mobil home units are 286,823,375 MILLION DOLLARS, MHL 949,760,658 MILLION DOLLARS, VACATION HOMES 3,580,540,766, V2 1,946,090,722
A total amount of appraised real estate of around 51,053 BILLION DOLLARS
State total for all listed property is 71,454,598,786 billion dollars
individuals and families are targeted to pay over 70% of the entire property tax which is over 1,354 billion dollars when the government runs a real estate tax that targets ownership values in place of the Constitutionally required form of taxation.
Every member of society contributing their proportion according to their wealth.
Data was taken for the 2009 annual report by the dividion of property valuation and review. the director william johnson sent copies to the governor legislature, Listers and selectboard of each town
Question is are the selectboard's and Listers who you elected working for you or montpelier?
The legislature has not problem taxing you with an unconstitutional tax system!!!
Listers are the elected office, the director didnt send copies to professional appraisers.
Where does the authority come from to replace Listers elected by the people with professional appraisers.
Can the decision be made to replace the governor? or the legislators?
Dick Sears is down in your area he is head of the Judiciary Comm.
Why arent you asking him why Vermonts is being taxed by unconstitutional tax methods.
stated "The legislature has implented the education clause by authorizing school districts to raise revenue through local property taxes. But neither this method, nor any other means of fnancing public educations is constitutionally mandated. Public education is a constitutional obligations of the state; funding of education through locally imposed property taxes is not"
In Supreme Court docket 96-627 the supreme court affirmed: "He argues that the current property tax system, based on an appraisal of the fair market value of the property, is unconstitutional as applied beause the appraisals in Moretown and other towns throughout the state are inaccurate resulting in disproportional taxation in violation of Chapter I Article 9 of the Vermont Constitution. He also argues that the tax system is unconstitutional on its face because it does not tax members of society based on weath. We Affirm"
This decision followed the Brigham decision in 1998.
In order for the legislature to create a constitutional means of funding education or any other consitutional mandate requiring protection of our rights, it would have required reverting back to a form of taxation equivalent to the original Property Tax showing how the founders transitioned the elements of article 9 into statute law that provides every member of society to contribute their proportion according to weath.
In fact the legislatures since Brigham (1997) are in criminal neglect of adhereing to the Vermont Constitution. The democrats and republicans who have held majority power have violated their oath of office (Section 16) committing perjury and used an illegal method of taxtion as fraud to extort money from the people for illegal purposes. They have used the government office held to support their racketeering and advancement of illegal programs and services.
Education in the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. the Board of Education as well as in the Vt Supreme court Brigham decision did not delcare education as a constitutional right but simply stated every child was entitled to an equal educational opportunity.
Education is a responsibility of the parents not the government.
Property taxes rose 100 million dollars across the entire state from 2007 to 2008. a 7.97% increase.
An 8.83% increase for educatio; a 5.61% increase for municiple.
The number of students is going down
This crooked government is taxing you out of your homes
The democrat and republican party system must be eliminated they are tyrants and traitors to the people and the state of vermont.
read the Brigham decision about "C. Remaining Claim" that has not been addressed since 1997.