Welcome to the UTG!
FAQ'S
Frequently asked questions:
The #1 question:
What is a
gore? In Vermont, gores and grants are unicorporated
portions of a county which are not part of any town and have limited
self-government, if any.
#2:
Why are my taxes so high? In
Vermont (through Act's 60 and 68) we have established a two tax rate
system. There is a municipal tax rate and a state education tax rate. The
bulk of your property taxes in the UTG goes to the state for education
purposes.
The UTG paid over three-quarters of a million
dollars to the state for education taxes in 2008. There are no schools in
the UTG. There are three students the UTG pays tuition for at nearby
schools in addition to monies raised for the education taxes imposed by
the state.
#3:
What does the Supervisor
do? The supervisor functions
as and has the duties of town clerk, treasurer, tax
collector; also delinquent tax collector. By statute, the supervisor is also
the constable,
or serves as constable when the need arises.
Specifically, the supervisor is also the
dog catcher.
The supervisor wears many hats, however she works
for the board of governors. The Board of Governors is elected by the
voters, and the board appoints the Supervisor. Land
records processing and other clerical functions all fall under the
supervisor's responsibility too.
The
current supervisor
since November of 2004 is Jennifer Hanlon. Prior to Hanlon, Ellen Ramsdell
was appointed by the Essex county government where she functioned as county
clerk. Previously, longtime county clerk Leonard Beattie was keeper of the
UTG records.
The
UTG Board of Governors
was established in 2000 and regular elections have occured since then at town
meeting held each August.
The Unified Towns and
Gores of Essex County are:
Averill, Avery's Gore,
Ferdinand, Lewis, Warner's Grant, Warren's Gore
FAQ #4 What does a
lister do? This is a link to a lister handbook provided by the
State of Vermont tax dept.
http://www.state.vt.us/tax/pdf.word.excel/pvr/listerhandbk.pdf
This is the lister homepage for the State.
http://www.state.vt.us/tax/pvrlisterhandbook.shtml
Although the listers’ duty is still to determine the assessment each person
should pay taxes upon, many of the specific rules have changed. Instead of
setting all property in the grand list at a fixed amount as was originally
done, listers are now directed to appraise property at its fair market
value, or, for qualifying property, at its use value.
Simply put, the lister is in charge of data entry into the computer. They
visit the property and record property data on an entry form, then at the
office they enter that data into the computer. They follow up on data entry
and make sure town information is correct for the grand list.
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