How to read a parcel record

What each line of a parcel record means, and what it does not tell you.

SPAN

The School Property Account Number, 078-024-11671: the parcel's identifier on the grand list. The first three digits are the town code. The Department of Taxes uses it for homestead declarations and property transfer returns.

Grand list and listed value

Each town lists every parcel at its appraised value on 1 April; the listed value is that appraisal, split into land and improvements (buildings). It is not a sale price.

Category

The use class on the grand list — Residential I (under 6 acres), Residential II (6 acres or more), Seasonal, Commercial, Farm, Woodland, Utilities and others.

Homestead declared

Yes when the owner lives there as a principal residence and has filed a homestead declaration; it changes the education tax rate that applies.

Acres: grand list and mapped

Two figures that may differ: the acreage on the grand list, and the area of the parcel drawn on the statewide map. Neither is a survey.

Act 250 permit

Vermont's land use permit for larger developments and subdivisions. A permit's conditions run with the land, so a buyer inherits them.

Hazardous site

A site in the Department of Environmental Conservation's list, with the contaminants found and its status. A closed site can still carry a land use restriction.

Well report

The driller's completion report: total depth, yield in gallons per minute, casing. It tells you about the well when it was drilled, not about the water today.

Survey plat

A licensed land surveyor's plan filed in the VCGI Land Survey Library. The legal boundary is on the recorded plat and the deed, not on the statewide map.