Reappraisals

Towns that are planning a reappraisal must report to the Division of Property Valuation and Review (PVR). PVR will evaluate the planned reappraisal to determine:

• Whether the town’s plan will meet the goal of coming into compliance of the common level of appraisal (CLA)
• and the coefficient of dispersion (COD) which is used in setting the education tax rates.

Please review the necessary reporting forms and step-by-step instructions of the reappraisal process.

What Is a Reappraisal?

There are four generally accepted reappraisal activities.

1. A complete reappraisal is a re-assessment of all town properties including the following:
   • interior property inspections
   • development of new land and building pricing schedules
   • adjustments and factors.

The goal must be to implement new values for all properties that reflect 100% of fair market value.

2. Rolling reappraisal or (Cyclical Reappraisal) is a type of complete reappraisal. What differentiates a rolling reappraisal from a complete reappraisal is that it is conducted and implemented over more than one year.
3. Statistical update is a revaluation of all town properties but unlike a complete reappraisal does not require on-site property inspections except to confirm validity of data for a sample of properties. The goal must be to implement new values for all properties to reflect 100% of fair market value. If building permits are not required in your municipality and there is no program of systematic re-inspection of all property, this is likely not an acceptable method of establishing equitable values as any inequities that currently exist within the grand list may be magnified using a statistical update.
4. Partial reappraisal is a reappraisal activity that by design is targeted to either less than all properties in a town or adjustments to a limited number of factors that will result in a change of value but will generally not result in bringing the entire municipality to 100% market value. The goal of a partial reappraisal is to improve the appraisal equity among specific categories, types and/or neighborhoods of properties within a town by bringing them to approximately the same level of appraisal as the rest of the properties in that town.

Reappraisals: Step by Step

1. Town decides whether to hire an appraisal firm to conduct the reappraisal.
2. The listers will complete and return Form RA-308, Detailed Reappraisal Compliance Plan.
3. PVR will acknowledge receipt of the reappraisal plan by notifying the listers. If further information is needed, the lister will be contacted.
4. A municipality planning to complete a reappraisal in a given year must notify the director of PVR of that plan on or before January 1 of the same year. This helps PVR include all sales figures into the three-year EEGL Study.
5. In the year that the completion of the reappraisal is declared a confirmation letter will be sent to the listers to complete and return to PVR by March 1 of that year.
6. At the time of the lodging of the grand list book with the town clerk (after the close of grievances), the listers will return the Form RA-309, Detailed Reappraisal Compliance Report.
7. The town clerk will file the reappraised grand list and Form 411 electronically and mail Form RA-310, Report of Reappraised Grand List to PVR.
8. PVR will determine a new CLA for tax rate setting purposes and set the fiscal year’s education tax rates using that new CLA. The education tax rates will be set as soon as practicable after receipt of the current reappraised grand list information submitted.
9. PVR will evaluate the validity of the reappraisal results using the 3-Prong Test. You can review our Reappraisal Activity Evaluation for Equalization Study for a detailed description of this evaluation.

Approved Appraisers and Appraisal Firms

View the current list of Approved Appraisers and Appraisal Firms, updated regularly. If you have questions about this list or the reappraisal process, please contact us at tax.pvr@vermont.gov.

CAMA Vendors and CAMA Requirements

The municipal Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal Software (CAMA) vendors listed below have successfully demonstrated the ability to meet the current requirements as defined in the CAMA Requirements V3.5.

Reappraisal Orders and Reappraisal Request for Proposals (RFP)

Municipal Officers can now post information regarding active or future Request for Proposal for reappraisal service on the Vermont Business Registry and Bid System which can be found on the Agency of Commerce and Community Development's (ACCD) website.

Forms, Publications, and Resources