Williston
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NOVEMBER 20, 2025
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
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Town takes first step toward reappraisal
BY JASON STARR Observer staff
The Town of Williston is way past due for a reappraisal of private property. Assistant Assessor Mychaela Harton estimates that the value at which properties are currently taxed is roughly 50 percent of their actual market value. The last townwide reappraisal occurred in 2016 — meaning property values have more or less doubled in the last 10 years. Jill Remick, director of the Vermont Department of Taxes’ Division of Property Valuation and Review, sent a letter to the town in October requiring the town to submit a reappraisal plan. A law that went into effect last January mandates towns reappraise once every six years. “Williston is out of compliance based on the six-year cycle,” Remick wrote. “You are required to take action immediately.” In response, the assessor’s office plans to publish a request-for-proposals in December seeking to hire a company able to conduct a townwide reappraisal. The reappraisal involves assigning a new market value to each of the town’s roughly 4,800 residential
and commercial properties. The new value will become the value at which the town and school district will tax each property, based on the property tax rates approved annually by voters on Town Meeting Day.
“I’m in favor of doing away with the board of listers.” Linda Levitt Williston Board of Listers
The current taxable property value of all properties in Williston — known as the town’s Grand List — amounts to roughly $2 billion, according to Town Manager Erik Wells. He anticipates that amount will jump to about $3 billion after the reappraisal. Harton noted that, even after the town contracts with a reappraisal company, it could take several years before the reappraisal is complete. Many Vermont municipalities are similarly overdue, and there is a limited number of companies qualified and available to conduct reappraisals. Meanwhile, Harton and Wells are
‘Agony’ at CVU
asking the selectboard to consider seeking voter approval to abolish the elected Board of Listers, which is typically charged with hiring a reappraisal company, as well as signing off on the annual Grand List and hearing any property valuation appeals. Linda Levitt, one of the members of the three-member board, supports the proposal. She said the listers often feel unqualified to determine property value appeals and typically defer to the town’s professional staff — part-time Assessor Bill Hinman and Harton, the assistant assessor who took over last year after the retirement of Dick Ransom. “It’s very uncomfortable to sit and pretend like you know something when you don’t,” Levitt said. “So I’m in favor of doing away with the board of listers.” Dissolving the board would require a majority vote from residents. The selectboard plans to decide in December whether to place a question authorizing it on the Town Meeting Day ballot in March. Without a board of listers, all property value appeals would be heard by assessor office staff, which is hired by the town manager.
Rapunzel’s Prince (Kieran Coolidge), left, and Cinderella’s Prince (Rowan WIlliams), right, perform the ‘Agony’ duet in CVU’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Into the Woods’ on Saturday in HInesburg. More photos on page 14. OBSERVER PHOTO BY AL FREY
School budget proposal adds $5.8 million
Board seeks reductions ahead of Town Meeting Day BY JASON STARR Observer staff
A first draft of the Champlain Valley School District’s budget
proposal for the upcoming fiscal year shows a $5.8 million (5.6 percent) increase over the current year. District Chief Operations Officer Gary Marckres presented the $108.5 million proposal to school board members during their meeting Tuesday night at CVU. He said the increase is
primarily attributable to a 5.5 percent increase in teacher salaries and a 5 percent increase in support staff salaries that the board and teachers union agreed to in their current employment contract. While the contract can’t be altered, board members still asked Marckres to return next month with a reduced
budget proposal. “I’ll advocate for reductions,” said board member Keith Roberts of Hinesburg. “A 5.6 percent (increase) just doesn’t feel comfortable to me. I’d feel a little more comfortable with 5 percent … That’s more in line with inflation, and people can stomach that a bit better.”
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The board plans a series of hearings on the budget in December and January before finalizing a proposal in late January to put to voters on the Town Meeting Day ballot in March. Marckres did not venture any estimates on what the increase would mean see SCHOOL page 3