A Rutland Superior Court judge says the state’s method of calculating property values – and by extension the statewide property tax – is badly flawed. Judge William Cohen says the state’s calculation is simply unreliable. He says the state must go back and recalculate the value of property in the town of Killington, and it must do so using statistically valid methods.
The ruling applies specifically to Killington, but the judge says there’s nothing stopping the tax commissioner or the Legislature from ordering a statewide reappraisal. The decision is a major victory for those who complain that the Act 60 education funding law is unfair. Killington Town Manager David Lewis says it shows that the law has not been applied equally throughout the state.