The state will set the town's education tax rate after grievance
hearings on the reappraisal are completed the first week of August. The
new appraisal may not bring the town's valuation up to 100 percent of
fair market value.
Lister Gussie Graves said the goal of the reappraisal is to achieve 100
percent of fair market value but said that she could not state for
certain that this reappraisal would achieve that because of the
fluctuating real estate market and the state's method of calculating a
town's Common Level of Appraisal (CLA). The state uses the CLA to
determine each town's statewide education tax rate. Towns must
reappraise if their CLA falls below 80 percent of fair market value.
Graves said that the new appraisal is designed to get the town close to 100 percent of fair market value.
She anticipated that the new appraisal would drop the combined state and
town residential tax rate from $2.0139 to an estimated $1.45. The
nonresidential combined rate is estimated to drop from $2.13 to $1.54.
Graves said that taxpayers could use the ratio of the old Grand List
value to the new Grand List value to determine if their taxes would
increase or decrease. The ratios are listed in the tax appraisal booklet
that was mailed to taxpayers last week.
The average ratio of the old to new Grand List is 77.2 percent.
Properties with a ratio of 77.2 percent will see no change in their tax
burden. Taxpayers with ratios higher than 77.2 percent will see a
decrease in their taxes and those with ratios lower than 77.2 percent
will see an increase in their taxes.
Graves said that the town won't know the exact tax rates until the state
assesses the new appraisal, assigns the town a CLA and sets Fayston's
state education tax rate. She said that immediately after the grievance
hearings end on August 4, the town would submit its appraisal to the
state and would likely have the final tax rate by August 16 and tax
bills will go out shortly thereafter.
Graves said that the town did not use a three-year look back on real
estate sales to do the reappraisal. The state uses a three-year look
back to assess a town's CLA. Graves said the listers used only one year
of real estate sales to do the reappraisal.
"We did not go back to 2007 because the economy out there is not that
good and real estate sales are not as strong as they were then. We felt
we were very fair to the taxpayers," Graves said.
Data from the Vermont Housing Data website (housingdata.org) provides
historic sales prices for primary and vacation homes in Fayston. The
website provides median and average prices from 1988 to 2009.
In 2004, when Fayston last reappraised, the average price of a primary
residence sold in the town was $205,161. In 2009, the average price of a
primary residence sold in the town was $257,755, an increase of 26
percent. The average price of a vacation home sold in 2004 was $160,846
and in 2009 the average price of a vacation home almost doubled to
$319,643, an increase of 99 percent.
Average primary home prices peaked in 2006 at $393,050. That year vacation homes averaged $303,755.
Average vacation home prices peaked at $397,833 in Fayston in 2007, a year when average primary homes cost $284,933.
Joshua Schwartz, director of the Mad River Valley Planning District
cautioned against taking the statistical data too literally, noting that
the averages can be skewed by one high value property selling or
several affordable properties selling as the real estate market
softened.
Taxpayers with questions about their new appraisal can call Graves at
the town offices at 496-2454, ext. 24 or stop by the town offices on
July 27, 28 and 29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The town will hold grievances
on August 2, 3 and 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Taxpayers who wish to appeal
their new valuation need to file their intention to grieve in writing on
or before the day of the grievance hearings. Grievance letters need to
be postmarked on or before August 2 and grievance hearings will be by
appointment only.
The town was assisted in the reappraisal by an independent contracted
appraiser, Tom Vickery. While listers Graves, Tony Egan and Fred Spencer
conducted most of the appraisals, Vickery appraised the properties of
town officials. There are 1,174 parcels of property in the town and
almost all property values increased.
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