By Curt Peterson
There is a lot of talk around the Three Corners Market coffee counter about the looming general reappraisal of Hartland properties and what it will mean to Hartland tax bills.
Not all Vermont towns will be affected by the new evaluation — while two-thirds of the state’s 254 municipalities will be required to undergo reappraisal, one third will not. Whether a town is subject to the mandate is determined by the difference between property values as determined by current sales, and the property values reported on the town grand list.
If the grand list value is below 85% of actual sales records over three years, a reappraisal is required. This difference is expressed in the town’s “Common Level of Appraisal,” or CLA.
Hartland’s CLA was 90.24 in 2021, but has dropped currently to 81.3%. According to listers chair Stacey Bradley, it will be even lower when announced in July.
Vermont property became very popular with “down-country” emigrants hoping to escape Covid, as the state’s ow infection rate promised relatively safe haven.
“Housing prices increased more than 30% as millennials aged into the housing market, older residents resisted leaving their homes, people moved away from jobs to work remotely, and construction slowed to a snail’s pace,” Bradley said, adding: “There were only four ‘valid sales’ between April 1 and mid-June — historically there were more than 30 in the
