Editor’s note: Paul Lefebvre is the author of “Perimeter Check: Essays from Vermont’s Upper Kingdom” and a staff writer for the Chronicle in Barton, which has given Vtdigger.org permission to publish this story.
The House passed legislation last week intended to keep a statewide snowmobile trail system from affecting property values.
According to a provision in the miscellaneous tax bill passed Friday, listers would be prohibited “from increasing or decreasing the value of land based on whether the land” includes trails maintained by the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST).
Roughly two years ago, listers from the town of Canaan found that property with VAST trails on it was selling higher than property with no trails.
Consequently, owners with trails on their land saw their appraisal go up, along with their taxes.
Snowmobilers along with other sportsmen worried that the decision could set a dangerous precedent for any landowner who allows public recreation on his land.
A bill to forbid the practice was introduced by Representative Bill Johnson of Canaan. On Friday, Mr. Johnson said the practice had unintended consequences.
“If every town’s listers did it, he said, “it would cripple the VAST trail system.”
Initially, some legislators expressed misgivings when the bill was initially introduced, saying it would create an exception to the fair market value standard used by listers throughout the state.
Representative Mark Higley of Lowell, who has been a lister for 16 years, said he opposed the measure when he first heard about it. He noted that real estate agents often advertise the proximity of a VAST trail when listing property.
But he said the Canaan listers may have made a mistake by increasing the value of all property close to VAST trails by $10,000 across the board.
“It didn’t make any difference if it was ten acres and a camp or two acres and a camp,” he said. “As a lister, it wasn’t fair.”
