By Curt Peterson
The Killington Select Board met on the afternoon of June 30 and set the official FY2022 municipal tax rate: $.5382.
In the 2020 Town Report, the municipal tax rate had been estimated at $.5425, slightly higher than the final rate.
The rate is made up of two factors: The voter-approved budget and net “amount to be raised by taxes” from the total value of the Grand List. For FY2022, $4,261,501 is the amount to be raised, and the Grand List is valued at $7,917,611.
To calculate a dollar amount divide the assessed value of your property by 100 then multiple by the rate. For example, a home valued at $500,000 divided by 100 is $5,000 multiplied by $.5382 would incur a homestead municipal tax of $2,691.
The Vermont Education Tax is added to the municipal tax to calculate your total annual property taxes. The state education portion makes up over 3/4 of the total and is divided into homested and non-homestead rates.
The Killington homestead education tax rate is $1.8106. (For comparison in 2020 and 2021, the homestead school tax rates were $1.6241 and $1.6918, respectively.) For non-homesteads in Killington (like second homes or businesses) the education tax rate is $1.8064.
Therefore, the state education tax for that same home valued at $500,000 is $9,053 if it’s a homestead and $9,032 if it’s a non-homestead. (However, many homestead property owners qualify for pre-bates or rebates based on income sensitivity, reducing the amount they actually pay. Non-homesteads do not qualify for such programs.)
The increase for this year results from the Common Level of Appraisal (CLA), adjusted due to the quickly rising prices for which Killington properties have been selling in the “hot pandemic market.” It is meant to help account for Grand List fluxations between full town reappraisals as they compare to actual sales price records. It lowers or rises pending the CLA under or over 100.
For the FY2022 rate, Killington assessments are 89.24% of what actual sales prices indicate they should be. The adjustment to parity is substantial, accounting for much of the rate increase. For comparison in FY2021 Killington’s assessment level was 97.4% of actual value, and the year prior (FY2020) the level was 99.43% of actual value.
