• Routine.  Though operating one position short for most of the year, your Board of Listers accomplished what the law requires: the Grand List was updated with changes to ownerships and to properties, Homestead Declarations to the State Tax Department were posted into the Town’s records, Use Value Appraisal changes were calculated, and the final values were lodged with the Town Treasurer before July 1.  Act 60, Act 68, and other efforts to make the ad valorem property tax mimic an income tax have pretty much doubled the Listers’ workload.

• Reappraisal.  A townwide reappraisal of all property was authorized by the 2006 Town Meeting.  Bids were solicited for that task last Fall, and a contract signed by the Select Board.  William J. Krajeski of New England Municipal Consultants (NEMC) of New Hampshire was the successful bidder.  Appraisal consists first of describing the property, secondly of evaluating the age, quality, condition, and location of the property or improvements, and third in using a series of recent sales of similar property to estimate the market value of each property.  

• Reappraisal Schedule  For municipal tax purposes, a method called "Mass Appraisal" based upon the replacement cost of improvements is used.  An individual or Certified appraisal may take two full days of time, for which a mortgage applicant might be charged up to $1000.  Mass appraisal classifies like properties, in order to equitably apportion amounts to be raised by taxes on the Grand List.  We are splitting the work with NEMC.   Your listers will work in the Town records, will update photographs, and NEMC will revise the descriptions, and initial estimates of value.  Final estimates of value are not lodged until after the grievance period.  The first site visits will begin when the Listers complete the routine work for the 2007 Grand List.  We have contracted to lodge the Reappraised Grand List in time to generate the 2008 tax bills.

• Grievance process.  NEMC proposes for property owners a preliminary look at the descriptions and estimates before the formal grievance period, so that inconsistencies can be addressed informally and quickly.  As we learn how to use the analytic capacity of our computer records, we are hoping to find and resolve inconsistencies more rapidly and easily than ever in the past.  If you have comments, questions, or concerns, please contact the listers soon.

•Legal:  a taxpayer appealed to the State Board of Appraisers our assessment of a Life Lease Reservation.  The hearing examiner found that there was in the reserved property no value taxable either to the holder or to the remainderman.  That result raised so many potential problems that the Town appealed.  Under Vermont law, the Town’s only appeal was to the Supreme Court.  The case was placed on "The Rocket Docket," and decided by three justices without oral arguments.  The Court affirmed the decision of the State Appraiser without answering any of the Town’s questions.

•Rising Property Values.  Statewide, the value of all classes of property has been rising at approximately 10% per year for a fair number of years.  That rise reflects a shortage of property available for dwellings and businesses.  Value of open land and of lake front property in Eden has nearly doubled since the 2002 appraisal.  Values for accessible building lots with or without houses have nearly tripled in that period.  Our Common Level of Appraisal (Eden’s 2002 appraised values compared to 2006 sale values) has accordingly fallen to 68% for the 2007 tax year.  The CLA change falls most heavily on Non-Residential taxpayers, whose Statewide Tax Rate is divided by the CLA.  

Bruce Shields, John Vear, Listers.