ECRWSS PRSRT STD US Postage
PAID
Permit #15 Williston,VT 05495 POSTAL CUSTOMER
RECIPE INSIDE! JULY 22, 2021
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
Taxes decrease as home prices soar Assessor: ‘It’s just amazing to see’ BY JASON STARR Observer staff Property tax bills are arriving this week with a decreased yearover-year municipal tax rate. On June 29, the Williston Selectboard set a tax rate of 0.2721 — 27.21 cents for every $100 of property value — for the new fiscal year that began this month. The tax rate supports the $11.5 million town budget approved by voters in March. The tax rate is about three-tenths of a cent less than last year. That amounts to a reduction of about $3 for every $100,000 of property value. For a $300,000 home, for example, the property tax is about $9 less this year. Property tax bills are due Aug. 15. The town decreased its spending plan for the new fiscal year in anticipation of pandemic-related revenue loss and no growth of the Grand List — the total value of the town’s taxable property. But revenues didn’t decrease; Finance Director Shirley Goodell-Lackey noted that there were fewer delinquencies in tax, water and stormwater bills through the pandemic, bucking expectations. Meanwhile, the Grand List increased by about $13 million to $2.08 billion as the residential and industrial real estate markets boomed, even as the market for retail and office space softened. Williston Assessor Bill Hinman has been stunned by the spike in local home prices over the past year. Prices have increased 30 percent since last April, double the national average of 15 percent, he said. “Its just amazing to see,” Hinman said. “I’ve been a home appraiser for 35 years and I’ve never seen anything remotely close to it.” The last bull market in residential real estate, circa 2007, saw home prices increase by about 12 percent year over year, Hinman said. That was followed by the “great recession” of 2008. Hinman anticipates a similar market fall on the horizon. “Where this ends is a very good question, and if it ends badly, it could be scary on many, many fronts,” he said, noting current trends in inflation and increased
mortgage rates. “If history is any indication, I would hold onto your wallets because we could be seeing things that haven’t been seen since the ‘70s. We could be in for some significant challenges … It’s going to be state and national, not just Williston.” In the short term, increased home prices will cause a significant drop in the “common level of appraisal” calculation that the state uses to assess school taxes. That occurs when the assessed values of homes are significantly lower than the market values, which triggers a state-mandated property-by-property reappraisal. Hinman predicts reappraisals will be needed simultaneously in many Vermont towns and cities. The home appraiser workforce won’t be able to keep pace, he said. The town’s $13 million Grand List growth amounts to about a half-percent increase over the previous year. But there are several large commercial properties that are appealing their assessment, which is causing town officials to plan for the possibility that the Grand List will be reduced by about $7 million, resulting in about $19,000 less in revenue this fiscal year. With a reserve fund of nearly $3 million, there is little concern about the town covering the potential loss. One of the appeals is from Brookfield Properties, owners of Maple Tree Place. Brookfield believes the town’s $83 million assessment of the retail and dining plaza is too high. With a 50 percent office space vacancy rate, several retail spaces empty and a movie theater that may not reopen, according to Hinman, the pandemic has hit the property hard. Hinman said Brookfield lost $880,000 in rent in the past year because of the movie theater’s closure. Brookfield has suggested a $52 million appraisal for the entire property. “This is an evolving situation because of the vacant space,” Hinman said. “We really have to wait and see how this pandemic has impacted people’s habits for retail shopping.” Hinman has suggested to the company that it convert vacant office space into apartments. “That would be logical if their vacancy remains as high as it has been in the last 9-12 months,” he said.
WWW.WILLISTONOBSERVER.COM
No egrets
This fellow, believed to be a great egret, contemplates the upside-down world of the retention pond between Shaws and Friendly’s at Maple Tree Place. OBSERVER PHOTO BY MARIANNE APFELBAUM
Bird banger talks continue Noise variance sought for seagull dispersal at Casella BY JASON STARR Observer staff Williston Town Manager Erik Wells is planning a decibel test as part of the selectboard’s decision whether to allow the Burlington International Airport to set off fireworks at the Casella Waste Management facility off Industrial Avenue to disperse nuisance seagulls attracted by food scraps. Parents of children attending the nearby E.J.’s Kids Klub preschool voiced concerns about the proposal at the board’s July 13 meeting. Jacob Borgeson, a U.S. Department of Agriculture biologist working with Casella and the airport to mitigate the seagull problem, first proposed the pyrotechnic techniques in May. The “screamers” and “bangers” emit up to 120 decibels. The town’s noise ordinance caps sound at 90 decibels in the industrial zoning district. Seagulls’ attraction to the Casella facility creates a hazard at the airport as the birds cross the airfield on their way from Lake Champlain
to search for food at the Casella facility. The activity is most pronounced each spring. That’s when the fireworks would be most needed, Borgeson said. He estimates they would be discharged up to 20 times per day in April and May.
experienced within 100 feet of the discharge. Wells’ upcoming testing is an attempt to verify those assumptions. The Williston Conservation Commission recommends the selectboard grant the noise ordinance waiver on a trial basis. However,
‘Maybe this is just the wrong spot for Casella. (They) should have realized that having food scraps right next to an airport would create a hazard for air traffic.’ — Terry Marron Williston Conservation Commission
“In spring, everyone is first getting outside and the kids can really be spending a lot of time outdoors,” said E.J.’s Kids Klub parent Christina Gustie. “Then, if these things are going off up to 20 times a day, I have concerns about the safety of the kids.” There is another preschool within a half-mile of Casella, as well as a dog daycare and boarding business. Wells’ initial modeling suggests the noise effect at that distance would be 60 decibels, and that 90-plus decibels would only be
commission member Terry Marron urged Casella to try bird netting, which is in use at Green Mountain Compost on Redmond Road in Williston, before resorting to fireworks. She also questioned the wisdom of locating a trash transfer station so close to an international airport. “Maybe this is just the wrong spot for Casella. (They) should have realized that having food scraps right next to an airport would create a hazard for air traffic,” she said.