Board of Abatement Agenda
Monday, December 3, 2018 at 6:00 pm
Location: Calais Town Office
PLEASE NOTE: Except for the start time, all agenda times are guidelines only and are subject to change without notice.
6:00 pm • Call to Order
• Approval of minutes
• Abatement Requests:
• Martha Levin, 675 Long Meadow Hill Road, Calais, VT
Parcel ID (SPAN) #430675
• Small amounts of property taxes
• Adjourn
The Board of Abatement (BOA) consists of the Town Treasurer, the Town Clerk, the Selectboard, the Listers, and the Justices of the Peace. A majority of the BOA must be present in order for the board to meet, and a majority of that number must vote in favor of a motion to abate. The listers, while they are members of the board, may also want to testify in defense of their actions, and if this occurs they may not be considered part of the board, which will require that more members be present to make a majority. If the listers participate as members of the board, a quorum of the board of abatement may also be met if the town treasurer, a majority of the listers and a majority of the selectboard members are present at the meeting. 24 V.S.A. § 1533. Note that unlike most municipal boards, the BOA acts with a concurrence of a majority of the quorum of the BOA.
The open meeting law. A board of abatement meeting is a quasi-judicial proceeding that falls under the open meeting law. 1 V.S.A. § 312. This means that members of the public may observe the proceedings but the board may only hear from the taxpayer, a lister or possibly someone else from the town government, and anyone called as a witness or asked by the board to provide information. All evidence must be received in the hearing (there may be no ex parte communications.) Since the decision must be in writing, after the board hears all of the evidence it may meet in a closed session to deliberate and decide whether to grant the abatement. This closed session is a deliberative session, and it is exempt from the requirements of the open
meeting law. 1 V.S.A. § 312(e).
Dec 30, 2024, 5:30 to 7 PM
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