Property Reappraisal
The Town of Waterbury is undertaking a reappraisal of all properties in the town, with a target completion date of April 1, 2027.
Why is a reappraisal necessary?
The Town Assessor maintains our Grand List, which contains every property in town, and their associated assessed value. The Grand List is used to calculate municipal and education tax rates. The reappraisal is done to help ensure property values on the Grand List are consistent with the real estate market.
To account for annual changes in the market, the state applies a common level of appraisal (CLA) to all properties on our Grand List. The CLA for Waterbury is currently 51.06%, meaning our Grand List has properties valued at only 51.06% of the current real estate market. When a municipality’s CLA drops below 85%, the State of Vermont orders a reappraisal.
What does this mean for my taxes?
A reappraisal brings property values back in line with the market. Without this alignment, the fair and equitable distribution of the total tax burden cannot be achieved.
In general, the reappraisal should not impact your property taxes. When determining your education taxes, the CLA is already utilized to adjust the value of your property. For example, a home valued at $300,000, after adjusting for the CLA, would actually be valued at $529,848 for education tax purposes. When the reappraisal is completed, your property values will likely increase to match the current market, but the CLA would also be at or near 100%.
The CLA does not impact your municipal taxes. When applied town-wide, reappraisal keeps the tax burden equitable. While property values will be higher, the municipal tax rate will be largely the same or lower.
The way to influence your municipal tax rate is to participate in local government when the budget is developed and discussed, and to attend Town Meeting Day when the budget is discussed and approved or denied by the voters.
What is the schedule?
The assessor is subdividing the town into sections and notifying property owners by letter to request access to the property to gather accurate information. Property owners can refuse a visit to the interior of the residence or other structures, but that leaves the assessor to make judgment calls about the overall property value.
Before the reappraisal is completed, every property owner has the right to grieve their property value.
Our goal is to complete the reappraisal before generating the 2027 grand list, which is based on property values as of April 1, 2027. However, the grand list does not have to be finalized until all grievances are heard in the spring and early summer.