§ 3-92. Board of Tax Appeals to hear appeals; deadline for hearings; manner of conducting; possible Board of Civil Authority review

(a) The Board of Tax Appeals shall meet, hear, and determine all appeals in the manner set forth in this section, notwithstanding 32 V.S.A. § 4404. All such appeals shall be heard and determined no later than December 31 of that year. Hearings and inspections of the property shall be conducted by the entire panel as described in this section.

(b)(1) The City Assessor shall have the right to request and the Board shall have the right to issue a subpoena for all records of the taxpayer that are material to a determination of the appeal.

(2) Such records shall be regarded as confidential, shall not be further distributed, and shall be utilized only for the purpose of deciding the appeal; provided that no subpoena shall issue unless and until a taxpayer has appealed to the Board of Tax Appeals.

(3) If the taxpayer fails to provide requested records in response to a subpoena properly issued hereunder or refuses to allow an inspection of his or her property, the appeal shall be deemed withdrawn or dismissed and no further appeal shall be available to such taxpayer.

(c) The Board shall hear and decide appeals by three member hearing panels, the membership of such panels to be rotated on a periodic basis. All three members must be present and voting, and at least two of the three members of the hearing panel must join in the decision in order for it to be valid.

(d) Either a taxpayer or the City Assessor aggrieved by the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals may file an appeal of a decision of the Board of Tax Appeals directly with the Director of the Division of Property Valuation and Review of the Vermont Department of Taxes or the Superior Court pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 4461 within 30 days of the mailing of the Board of Tax Appeals' decision to the taxpayer.

(e) The decision of the Board of Tax Appeals, if not further appealed, shall become the basis for the grand list of the taxpayer for the year in question plus the next two years unless new information of a material nature about the property is discovered, the property is materially changed, or the City undertakes a rolling or complete reevaluation of real estate that includes the property in question. (Amended 2007, No. M-7, § 2, eff. April 17, 2007; 2017, No. M-9, § 2, eff. May 22, 2017.)