Ways and Means hears report: no immediate change to current‑use categories; recommends process fixes

The Ways and Means Committee on May 21 heard from Jill Remick, director of Property Valuation and Review at the Vermont Department of Taxes, who said the department and the Current Use Advisory Board do not recommend creating new use‑value categories for the Current Use Program at this time.

Remick told the committee the report was prepared following Act 146 of 2022 and focused on the program change that allowed “reserve forest land” to be enrolled under current use. “We do not recommend expanding use value categories at this time in this report,” she said, noting the change from Act 146 is still recent and reserve forest land enrollments remain small.

The report and discussion addressed why the department reached that recommendation and flagged several technical fixes the department would pursue. The Current Use Program reduces property tax valuation on enrolled acreage by replacing grand list value with a per‑acre use value; Remick described the program’s three existing statewide use values (agriculture, forest land, and a higher forest value for more‑remote forest acreage), how those values are calculated, and how the Common Level of Appraisal (CLA) is applied to align annually updated use values with multi‑year grand list valuations.

Why it matters: Current use valuations lower property taxes for enrolled landowners and shape incentives for how land is used, conserved or developed. Changes to use values or enrollment rules could affect municipal and education tax revenues, landowner decisions about development or subdivision, and conservation outcomes.

Key details from the report and committee discussion

• Use values and recent enrollment:…