Annual Duties of the Office of Assessment

Responsibilities of the Office

Our primary responsibility is to establish fair and accurate values for all real property in Town in compliance with applicable Vermont State Statutes. This includes annual maintenance of the Grand List by updating changes resulting from sales, subdivisions, new construction and other factors affecting market values, such as periodic revaluations when mandated by the State.

Our office also administers the Town Business License program, assesses Business Personal Property, and administers Tax Stabilization for enrolled farmland taxpayers. We also handle some functions of the State’s Current Use program as well as Homestead Declarations. We regularly update property record cards and tax maps with new ownership information and lot lines throughout the year.

Statutory Requirements

Most activities and dates are mandated by State Statute as follows:

• April 1 - All taxable real property in town is assessed [listed] at fair market value as required by the state effective on this date.
• April 15 - Last day to file the HS-122 Homestead Declaration form, which entitles you to be taxed at the Homestead School Tax Rate, without a late penalty. This form can be completed online by clicking here.
• May 1 – Deadline for qualifying Veterans to file with the Veterans Administration for property tax exemption. Information can be found here.
• May-June - The values for the tax year are finalized by the Town Assessor and the Abstract of the Grand List is lodged. At this time notices are mailed to all taxpayers who have had changes in their assessed values.
• June/July - Grievance appeals begin 14 days after change notices are mailed. These appeals are heard by the Board of Listers, with either the Town Assessor or Assistant Assessor in attendance. Any taxpayer who wants to grieve (appeal) an assessment must contact the Office of Assessment to set up an appointment. Grievances are not limited to only those taxpayers with assessment changes. Any taxpayer may grieve in any year. If you wish to be notified of the grievance times, you may call our office in advance and request notification.
• July - By July 1st the lodged version of the Grand List is filed and used by the Selectboard to set the annual tax rate. Tax bills are mailed to property owners as of April 1. The installments are due in August, November, February and May. Only one bill is mailed, with four stubs, one for each payment.
• September - Deadline for submitting applications to the Current Use Program
   

In addition to the Town Assessors, Brattleboro also has a Board of Listers. This is a three-person board elected at large under the authority of article II, section 2 (E) of the Brattleboro Charter, “having no appraisal power, shall function as a Board of Appeals with the authority to hear and adjudicate all appeals by citizens disputing Office of Assessment appraisals and perform other advisory and educational functions for the office of Assessment”. Their primary responsibility is to conduct Grievance Hearings after the Grand List has been lodged. They also hear appeals for tax exemption under 32 V.S.A. § 3802(4)