Vermont § 6306 - Exemption from taxation

§ 6306. Exemption from taxation

• (a) The rights and interests in real property acquired by a municipality or State agency
  under the authority of this chapter shall be considered as municipal or State-owned
  land, as the case may be, with respect to taxation and State reimbursement in lieu
  of taxes. (b)(1) The Commissioner of Taxes may certify that real property acquired by a qualified organization
  under this chapter is being held and maintained for the purposes expressed in section 6301 of this title. As a condition of that certification, the Commissioner may require that the qualified
  organization provide adequate assurances that the property is being so held and maintained,
  including written agreements with the Department of Taxes, deeds, covenants, or other
  conveyances. Property that is so certified: (A) if in the nature of an interest in fee simple, shall be assessed on the basis of its
  actual use or may be enrolled by the qualifying organization in a current use program
  under 32 V.S.A. chapter 124; or (B) shall be exempt from assessment and taxation, if in the nature of an interest other
  than fee simple. (2) For purposes of this section, where a qualified organization holds a lease in the
  property for a term greater than ten years, including renewal terms, or holds such
  other interests as the Commissioner shall determine to be substantially equivalent
  to an interest in fee simple, the organization shall be deemed to hold an interest
  in fee simple. (3) A certification granted to a qualified agency shall first affect the April 1 grand
  list following the date that all information deemed necessary by the Commissioner
  has been provided by the qualified organization. (c) After acquisition by a municipality, State agency, or qualified organization of a
  right or interest in real property under the authority of this chapter, the owner
  of any remaining right or interest in the real property not so acquired shall be taxed,
  under the applicable provisions of 32 V.S.A. chapter 123, only upon the value of those remaining rights or interests to which he or she retains
  title. The State agency or qualified organization, and the Department of Taxes, shall
  cooperate with that owner and with the town assessing such tax in the determination
  of the fair market value of any such remaining right or interest. (d) Property held by a qualified organization and taxed or exempted under subsection (b)
  of this section shall be subject to a conversion tax if the Commissioner determines
  that it is no longer being held and maintained for the purposes expressed in section 6301 of this title. The amount of the conversion tax shall be five times the amount of the taxes avoided
  by reason of the exemption in the most recent year. The conversion tax shall be paid
  to the municipality in which the property is located. (Added 1969, No. 229 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; amended 1987, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 45; 1997, No. 60, § 68c; 2013, No. 73, § 26, eff. June 5, 2013; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 22.)