Saint Albans property values soar in city-wide reappraisal, leaving some locals stunned
SAINT ALBANS, Vt. (ABC22 FOX44) — A city-wide reappraisal in Saint Albans has some locals in shock over the new sticker price of their properties, with some more than doubling in value according to the city's preliminary list.
Chip Sawyer, the city's Director of Planning and Development, says the reappraisal, which was mandated by the state, will now be matching property values from sales data from the current market— which may explain the financial hike. The city's last reappraisal was in 2011, and it has been using that data set up until this year.
'If you look at what houses are selling for in the city, they're selling for at least twice as much as they might have in 2011. And that's what we expected would happen with the reappraisal, is that homes are now more valuable than they were back then and so the Grand List would reflect that,' he said.
Some locals have been taking to Facebook to express their concerns, with one post getting roughly 190 responses as of Friday. Sawyer says, while he understands the concerns, he wants people to know that an increase does not necessarily mean people will be paying twice as much in taxes.
'As the Grand List goes up the tax rates go down. So, your property value might be doubling on the Grand List, but your taxes won't be doubling because the tax rate is going down.'
James Levy, a Saint Albans resident and business owner, says while he wishes the value increases were less 'traumatic,' they make sense given the current real estate market.
'Would I have been happier if it were a bit lower, certainly… but I believe the process was a fair one and that's what counts. This one was probably the best I've experienced in the last 40 or 50 years,' he said.
Sawyer says people can reach out to the city to file an official grievance or can contact its partner Tyler Technologies for a property data follow-up.
You can find contact information and more resources here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
How the House Settlement will reshape Texas A&M athletics
How the House Settlement will reshape Texas A&M athletics It's time for the universities and colleges to back up the Brinks trucks as they get ready to deal with all the financial obligations as a result of the House settlement approval on Friday evening. After years of lawsuits and the rise of NIL in college athletics, regulation is finally being introduced. However, the legal battles are far from over, and precedent-setting cases will likely continue for years. For now, we can examine how this approval, alongside the Texas bill, will shape Texas A&M athletics, particularly with universities now permitted to directly pay athletes. Financial Impact The most significant factor is money. The landmark case, approved by Judge Claudia Wilken, allocates $2.5–$3 billion to former players from 2016–2024 who were unable to benefit from NIL. Additionally, a revenue-sharing model essentially establishes a salary cap, beginning at approximately $20 million for the upcoming season and increasing annually over the next decade. Scholarship & Roster Changes Another major shift is the removal of scholarship limits, replaced by roster restrictions. Texas A&M head football coach Mike Elko has repeatedly highlighted the challenges this presents when shaping a team while awaiting regulatory clarity. These uncertainties complicate roster management as teams prepare for rapid policy implementation. Title IX Implications An unresolved concern is how funding will be allocated across various sports, particularly women's athletics. Even though money is earmarked for women's sports, the exact distribution under the settlement remains unclear. Following their strong season, fans are calling for increased funding for Texas A&M's softball team, led by Coach Trisha Ford. With the sport's popularity on the rise, financial investments may shift in the coming years. Texas A&M's Position Athletic Director Trev Alberts has faced criticism for his early fiscal conservatism, yet he has positioned Texas A&M ahead of the curve. At the annual SEC meetings, Alberts reinforced the university's commitment to expanding scholarships. Current & Future Scholarship Allocations: Overall: 255 → 400+ 255 → 400+ Football: 85 → 105 85 → 105 Men's Basketball: 13 → 15 13 → 15 Women's Basketball: 15 → 15 15 → 15 Baseball: 11.7 → 34 11.7 → 34 Softball: 12 → 25 12 → 25 Men's Track & Field: 12.6 → 45 12.6 → 45 Women's Track & Field: 18 → 45 While changes will impact each university differently, Texas A&M is well-positioned to provide a strong student-athlete experience without cutting sports. However, the future remains uncertain as college athletics enters a new era of free agency, where players may seek better opportunities elsewhere if an opportunity to secure their future financially presents itself. Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on X: @whosnextsports1.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Meta reportedly in talks to invest billions of dollars in Scale AI
Meta is discussing a multi-billion dollar investment in Scale AI, according to Bloomberg. In fact, the deal value could reportedly exceed $10 billion, making it the largest external AI investment for the Facebook parent company and one of the largest funding events ever for a private company. Scale AI (whose CEO Alexandr Wang is pictured above) provides data labeling services to companies such as Microsoft and OpenAI to help them train their AI models. Much of that labeling work is done by contractors — in fact, the Department of Labor recently dropped its investigation into whether the company was misclassifying and underpaying employees. According to Bloomberg, the company saw $870 million in revenue last year and expects to bring in $2 billion this year. Meta was already an investor in Scale AI's $1 billion Series F, which valued the company at $13.8 billion. Scale AI also built Defense Llama, a large language model designed for military use, on top of Meta's Llama 3.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Jim Cramer Says He 'Personally Would Not Own Altria (MO)'
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. Answering a caller's query about Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO), Cramer commented: 'Alright, but here's, okay, so I'm going to give you two answers to this because I've been trying to change my mind about some things…. I personally would not own Altria. Why? Because I don't like what they do. Is it a superior stock better than most? The answer is, as I was writing How to Make Money in Any Market, the answer is yes. So you've got two answers. It's up to you. I couldn't own it for my trust. I couldn't live with myself.' A close-up of an assembly line with a blend of tobacco products. Altria (NYSE:MO) produces and markets a range of tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, nicotine pouches, and e-vapor devices, sold under brands like Marlboro, Black & Mild, Copenhagen, and NJOY ACE. Andvari Associates stated the following regarding Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in its Q1 2025 investor letter: 'Last year, Andvari made its first investments in tobacco companies with the purchase of Philip Morris International and Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO). At the time of our purchase, Philip Morris and Altria had underperformed the S&P 500 over the prior 5- and 10-year periods. Both traded at low valuations and with high dividend yields. But thanks to following the industry o and on for 10+ years, and thanks to many discussions with long-time shareholders of the companies, Andvari felt the time was right to make the plunge. The timing could not have been much better for us as both companies have so far contributed positively to Andvari's recent overall performance. Overall, MO ranks 8th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. While we acknowledge the potential of MO as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
