PVR tells Ways & Means VTPi rollout has ‘fallen short’; ADS now assisting vendor oversight

At the Jan. 28 Ways & Means meeting, Jill Remick said the state’s property‑data modernization has been difficult and that the Vermont Property Information Exchange ‘‘is not ideal.’’ After five years of implementation she said the vendor’s service dropped following its acquisition by a larger company: “The company was bought by another larger company. And after that happened, we’ve just gotten less than ideal service.”

Remick described parallel work to reduce the number of systems municipalities and PVR staff must use: current‑use applications moved into VTAC in December to centralize tax application work, and VTPi is intended to be the single grand‑list source where municipalities’ grand lists are fed in and reconciled. She said those changes should reduce duplicate manual processes and speed reviews when fully functional.

Remick outlined active oversight steps: PVR is using contractual levers to press the vendor for performance, has extended implementation and now operates under a support and maintenance contract, and said the Agency of Digital Services (ADS) has assigned a project manager to help track performance and hold the vendor accountable. She added PVR staff plan to meet with camera vendors and BCGI to seek automated data extracts (years built, unit counts) to support a housing dashboard without adding new burdens to PVR’s software.

The transcript records no direct vendor response during the meeting. Remick said the vendor issues have increased manual work for staff and municipalities and that PVR hopes to resolve the transition within the coming year.