BY STEVEN JUPITER
PROCTOR—The Proctor selectboard met on Monday, January 9.
A standout in an otherwise routine meeting, Proctor resident Philip Anderson rose during public comment and expressed his frustration with the town’s approach to mosquito control. Anderson stated his impression that the representative from the Mosquito District who had been at the previous meeting was “peddling snake oil” and that the rep’s exhortations for Proctor to join the Mosquito District were “a scam” designed to benefit selectboard members personally.
Board Chair Judy Frazier countered that the benefit to joining the Mosquito District is that Proctor would gain a seat on the District board and therefore a vote on District matters. Currently, as a non-member, Proctor has no say in District management. The town can pay for spraying but cannot vote on policy. Later in the meeting, the board voted to ask for $17,500 for funding of the Mosquito District in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2024.
Anderson also questioned the town’s expenditures on engineering firms for large projects when there were many small projects around town that are being neglected. He claimed that a culvert near his house has been broken since Irene, for example.
Town Assessor Lisa Wright then presented to the board the results of the 2022 Equalization Study, which compares the town’s assessed property values, as seen in the Grand List, with the fair market value of those properties. The Common Level of Appraisal (CLA) for Proctor in 2022 was 88.90%, which indicates that the assessed value of property in Proctor is only 88.9% of its fair market value. Since property taxes (including school taxes) are based on assessed value, a CLA below 100% means that property owners are paying taxes on less than the fair market value of their properties, as determined by the state.
The CLA for Proctor was 99.87% in 2020 and 95.25% in 2021. The drop of 6.67% in the CLA from 2021 to 2022 indicates that property values have increased in Proctor over the last year but the town’s assessed values have not kept pace. The drop in CLA will result in a tax increase to reflect the rise in property values. If a town’s CLA drops below 85%—meaning that the assessed value of property in the town is only 85% of the fair-market value—the state will require a townwide reappraisal to try to get the Grand List in line with the local real estate market.
Other business:
- The town will contract with Aldrich & Elliot engineering firm to perform a lead and copper management plan to comply with a federal rules revision regarding lead and copper in drinking water. The plan will be funded by the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund.
- Plans are underway to clean up the site of the house fire on West Street.
- The board approved a motion to list tax delinquencies in the 2021-2022 town report.
- The board approved a motion to provide a letter to Zion Growers to support their application for a Community Recovery and Revitalization Grant.
- The board certified the 2023 mileage certification, which determines the town’s share od state aid for highway maintenance.
The full minutes of the meeting are available on the town’s website: www.proctorvermont.com.
