Barre City fixes municipal tax rate after multi-year reappraisal; appeals due Aug. 12

Barre City Council voted on Aug. 4 to fix the municipal tax rate at 1.4361 and the local-agreement (education) rate at 0.0017 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, after a presentation on the city’s reappraisal and grievance process.

City Assessor Larry Martin reviewed the multi-year reappraisal contracted to New England Municipal Consultants and Martin Appraisal Services, explaining the timeline of inspections, informal meetings, and formal grievances. "We had 308 grievance notices go out," Martin said, summarizing the volume of appeals that followed the May notices and the June informal meeting period.

Treasurer Carol walked the council through the tax-rate calculations and noted a late $800 valuation change from a final grievance produced an $8 adjustment to the grand list but did not alter the proposed tax rates. "The calculated municipal rate is 1.4361," she said while describing how the total amount the voters approved and the grand-list denominator produce the municipal rate.

Council members and staff emphasized that a roughly 1.674 ratio of new-to-old assessments — described in presentation materials as about a 70% average increase in assessed values — does not automatically translate into a proportional tax increase for every property because the tax rate is set by the overall math of the budget and grand list. The assessor and chair repeated that property owners who still disagree with their revised assessment have an appeal route: owners who received grievance results have until close of business on Aug. 12, 2026, to appeal to the Board of Civil Authority.

The motion to fix the municipal and local-agreement rates was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote. Treasurer Carol said the city will create the tax bill file Thursday and send bills to the printer; the council also approved an adjusted schedule of tax due dates for the coming fiscal year.