High court sides with homeowner on appeal,
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Rutland Herald Staff - Published: October 27, 2009
CASTLETON — The Vermont Supreme Court has held that the town of Castleton inappropriately reappraised a property near Lake Bomoseen.
The 10-page court ruling delivered Oct. 13 struck down the town's 2007 reappraisal of Robert Parento's property, reinstating its 2006 value. This dropped the listed value from $221,500 to $66,915.
The 3.35-acre parcel off Johnson Spooner Road includes a house described in the decision as historic and dating back to 1850.
Parento first came into conflict with the town in 2004, according to court records, when the Board of Listers assessed the house at $193,600 during a townwide reappraisal. The Board of Civil Authority dropped it to $58,100 on appeal. The town appealed to the state appraiser who upheld the listers' number.
The listers consistently argued for the higher value based on the claim that a separate, noncontiguous parcel gave the land "lake access," increasing its value. Parento argued that the town arbitrarily changed the property value in 2007, a view with which the court agreed. In the decision, the court said it applied a standard where it would uphold the appraisal if it can "conceive of any reasonable policy or purpose for it."
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