Executive Director Concern Troll and his favorite Jim-Dog Democrat

One piece of news that slipped by during all the Obama buzz (and my own writer’s block) was a change of guard in Vermont GOP-land. Developer lobbyist Tayt Brooks has taken over as the Executive Director of the badly floundering State Republican Party (here’s a link from the Freeps blog, which only a couple weeks ago seemed in danger of withering away, but has lately seemed re-energized). The Vermont GOP, under Jim Barnett (now of the McCain campaign), became little more than a Douglas re-election office, leaving legislative races dangling badly and throwing sporadic support to the occasional statewide race, such as Dubie’s or former Auditor Randy Brock. It is this Republican Party that has allowed nearly-veto-proof Democratic majorities in the legislature to flourish, and are letting a freshman Democratic US Representative who was elected in a tough race and has faced continuing pressure from the left waltz back into office, seemingly without a challenger.

Seriously – who’d want that job?

But Brooks’s new role may (or may not) require him to reassess where he offers his support. Some may remember that Brooks was caught by JDRyan concern trolling on this blog under the name Pizzaman. Brooks was trolling in defense of Jim-Dog Dem, Rep. Jon Anderson of Montpelier, who is facing a primary challenge from Mayor Mary Hooper (who can be seen near the beginning of this video from the State Democratic Convention).

Washington-5: Appraisal Trainwreck May Alter Electoral Landscape

Montpelier's re-appraisal process has been extraordinary, to say the least. According to state law, a town-wide appraisal (for purposes of setting property taxes) is mandated when it is estimated that the grand list is less than 80% of the actual value of the town's property. Montpelier continues on a bit of a real estate “boom” track, and hasn't been hit by the housing sales recession in play in much of the rest of the state and nation, so prices are still up, up, up.

But the result has been a shock to many, with average appraisals going up by nearly 40%. My own house went up by about 80%. Many others have seen increases of more than 100%. All this while commercial properties have seen their appraisals stay level or even drop significantly. National Life has had its property evaluation drop by a staggering $11 million, leaving the residents to pick up the slack in the budget. Presumably this means that the average non-commercial increase was far higher than 40%.

In the theoretical, this has spurred renewed discussion of the inherent problems with the property tax (at least on primary, non-mansionesque homes) as a funding source, both in terms of fairness and practicality. But there are likely to be more immediate, more concrete repercussions for the town, as well as next years elections, when you consider the sheer totality of the mess created by the process and its mishandling:

  • There was no information sent out with the new assessments on taxation; that is, people were left wondering how a doubling of their assessments would affect their tax bills. Would they too, double? (they wont, but if your assessment when up by more than that magic 40%, they will go up)
  • In the narrow, two week window of opportunity to appeal one's assessment, city staffers were reported to have been rebuffing questions, reportedly comparing such requests to a judge advising a criminal how to beat the rap. This left confused residents with questions, no recourse but to file an appeal to have an audience – except for the fact that residents were specifically told the appeal process was not for q&a, and had to meet the textbook definition of a proper appeal. A classic catch-22.
  • The assessor did not take into account land condition on the assessment because she did not feel qualified to. This despite the fact that it has been considered in the past. Residents with a high assessment and a cliff in their back yard are at a disadvantage if they don't read the fine print.
  • The assessor opted to use new software, which required data to be hand entered. Reportedly, the new system is replete with mistakes.
  • The assessor changed the way by which business properties were taxed, basing it largely on their potential rental income. Former city councilor Chris Smart received clamorous criticism a few years back at his suggestion that residential and commercial property should be considered differently, yet this appraisal represents a unilateral, bureaucratic change in appraisal methodology that massively benifits commercial properties (again, at the tune of $11 million for National Life) at the financial expense of homeowners.
  • It's hard to find anyone who hasn't filed an appeal in Montpelier – including members of the Board of Civil Authority, which sits as the final appeal arbiters (appealing members will be recused), suggesting a paperwork and procedural backlog unprecedented in the city.

It's a mess which could have implications beyond Montpelier's borders, by echoing into next year's legislative election.