The Montpelier Board of Abatement on Monday considered a series of tax‑abatement requests from homeowners whose properties were damaged in the July 2023 floods, approving relief for some requests and declining others while directing staff to verify buyout status and assessment details.

Applicant Brent Curtis told the board he and his sister inherited a house on Elm Street that is “virtually useless” after floodwaters tore out a furnace, utilities and much of the first‑floor structure. “We’re looking to have our taxes abated for 2023, ’24, and ’25,” Curtis said during his statement to the board.

The board focused discussion on two legal and administrative points: the timing of the damage versus the city tax year (the board noted that the statutory standard applies to property “lost or destroyed during the tax year”) and whether the property qualifies as “substantially damaged” for buyout or elevation programs. Members repeatedly urged applicants to pursue an appeal of assessment values with the assessor and to consult planning staff about “substantially damaged” listings used in state and FEMA buyout decisions.

For Curtis’s application the board first considered a motion to abate the 2024 and 2025 tax years. The original omnibus motion was amended on the floor to abate only tax year 2024; that amended motion carried. A separate motion to abate tax year 2025 failed by recorded vote: 6 yes, 7 no.

Board members and staff told Curtis the board could abate the tax year in which the physical damage occurred (tax year 2024, given the July 2023 date), but abating later tax years is an exception the board has invoked in prior cases and typically rests on whether a property was included in the city’s substantially damaged / buyout list. Several board members said they wanted staff (notably Mike Miller, who has worked with owners on buyout lists) to confirm whether Curtis’s property had been placed on the buyout list before the board would consider additional abatements for 2025 or later years.

The board took similar individual actions on multiple other applicants during the evening. For homeowners who reported that their properties had been deemed substantially damaged and who are on the buyout schedule, the board approved abatements for the current tax year in question and for at least one applicant approved relief covering the year when the owner said a sale/closing was scheduled. Where applicants said they had not appealed the assessor’s valuation, board members urged them to file an appeal with the board of civil authority so the assessment could be reconsidered separately from abatement decisions.

Votes at a glance
- Brent Curtis (Elm Street): amended motion to abate tax year 2024 — passed (voice vote); motion to abate tax year 2025 — failed (recorded vote 6 yes, 7 no).
- Ed Hackett (buyout candidate): board approved abatement for tax year 2026 (motion carried; vote recorded as voice/roll‑call in the transcript; tally not specified in transcript excerpt).
- Lisa [last name not specified] (elevation project): board approved abatement for tax year 2026 (motion carried by voice vote).
- Mary Zantara (buyout candidate; closing scheduled Aug. 14): board granted abatement for the listed tax year (motion carried by voice vote).

Board members emphasized that abatement decisions do not change property assessments. Multiple speakers noted the separate process and deadlines for appealing an assessor’s valuation: when the assessor issues the annual valuation, an owner has a 30‑day window to appeal to the board of civil authority. Several homeowners said they had not completed that appeal window for more recent assessments and were advised to pursue that remedy.

The board also discussed procedural consistency and precedent: members who supported extending abatements beyond the year of damage cited a small set of earlier cases where the board had done the same for substantially damaged properties, while members who opposed broader abatements said the board should rely on planning staff’s designation of “substantially damaged” before repeating that exception.

Before closing the session the board directed applicants to follow up with staff — including Mike Miller for questions about the buyout program and Marty in the assessor’s office about assessment changes — and said the clerk’s office would notify applicants about next steps or additional hearings.

The board moved on to consider other pending abatement requests after the votes and adjourned at about 8:12 p.m.