Vermont § 4461 - Time and manner of appeal

§ 4461. Time and manner of appeal

• (a) A taxpayer or the selectboard members of a town aggrieved by a decision of the board
  of civil authority under subchapter 1 of this chapter may appeal the decision of the
  board to either the Director or the Superior Court of the county in which the property
  is located. The appeal to the Superior Court shall be heard without a jury. The appeal
  to either the Director or the Superior Court shall be commenced by filing a notice
  of appeal pursuant to Rule 74 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure within 30 days
  after entry of the decision of the board of civil authority. The date of mailing of
  notice of the board’s decision by the town clerk to the taxpayer shall be deemed the
  date of entry of the board’s decision. The town clerk shall transmit a copy of the
  notice to the Director or to the Superior Court as indicated in the notice and shall
  record or attach a copy of the notice in the grand list book. The entry fee for an
  appeal to the Director is $70.00; provided, however, that the Director may waive,
  reduce, or refund the entry fee in cases of hardship or to join appeals regarding
  the same parcel. If, in the opinion of the Director, an appeal under this subsection
  involves a complex or unique property or valuation that would be best adjudicated
  by the Superior Court, the Director may decline to assign a property valuation hearing
  officer pursuant to section 4465 of this title and shall forward the appeal to the Superior Court where it shall be heard. An appeal
  forwarded by the Director under this subsection shall be considered timely filed in
  the Superior Court if it was timely appealed to the Director. (b) On or before the last day on which appeals may be taken from the decision of the board
  of civil authority, an agent designated by the legislative body of the town, in the
  name of the town, on written application of one or more taxpayers of the town whose
  combined grand list represents at least three percent of the grand list of the town
  for the preceding year, shall appeal to the Superior Court from any action of the
  board of civil authority not involving appeals of the applying taxpayers. However,
  the agent designated by the legislative body shall, in any event, have at least six
  business days after receipt of such taxpayers’ application for appeal in which to
  take the appeal, and the date for the taking of such appeal shall accordingly be extended,
  if necessary, until the six business days shall have elapsed. The $70.00 entry fee
  shall be paid by the applicants with respect to each individual property thus being
  appealed that is separately listed in the grand list. (c) [Repealed.] (d) Fees collected under this section shall be credited to a special fund established
  and managed pursuant to chapter 7, subchapter 5 of this title and shall be available
  to the Department of Taxes to offset the costs of providing those services. (Added 1969, No. 253 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1971, No. 185 (Adj. Sess.), § 217, eff. March 29, 1972; 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974; 1977, No. 66; 1977, No. 105, § 14(a); 1979, No. 177 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1983, No. 201 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. April 27, 1984; 1993, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1997, No. 59, § 12, eff. June 30, 1997; 1997, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 21a, eff. Jan. 1, 1998; 1999, No. 49, § 45, eff. June 2, 1999; 2005, No. 202 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 2017, No. 11, § 58; 2019, No. 51, § 3, eff. June 10, 2019; 2019, No. 84 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2021, No. 163 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. June 1, 2022.)