Since becoming your president, and beginning my third term, my goals have always been to recognize this new operation environment, and with your support make the on-going changes necessary to allow VALA to be a force in Vermont in the information age. Change can be difficult at first, but I have found the more you are invested in the changes the easier it is to feel comfortable working in this new environment. There will be areas in VALA that show how we did business in past which will not be the way we do business in 2012 and future years. That is the norm of the 21^st Century.

What changes have we made?

• VALA’s new website is active and available after a year of development. The loose ends will be completed in early 2012.

• VALA’s quarterly newsletter is part of our new communication plan

• VALA’s Membership Committee now has an accurate membership list that is available and will be maintained as a communication tool. The committee will be marketing VALA to attract new members.

• VALA’s Finance Committee developed a 2012 revised dues structure that begins to reflect the value of our organization to Vermont Listers and Assessors. We are also working to implement a financial statement model to provide enhanced information on the financial condition of the organization

• VALA’s Education Committee has initiated a plan to respond to member requests for specific education classes (Example the January 18-19 Ratio Study class). This committee, in conjunction with the membership committee, plans the process to market, register, setup, and follow-up on these classes.

• VALA’s Legislative Committee is more visible in their advocacy role in Montpelier. They are asked to be members of committees to study pertinent issues. This year we will have sponsors that introduce legislation that was developed by VALA.

• VALA’s bi-monthly meetings have moved to a more focused business meeting with input from all committees and a discussion of relevant issues within the three hour time period.

The above list demonstrates the changes the organization has made in less than three years.

What are some changes to be addressed in 2012?

• VALA’s By-Laws need to be reviewed and updated to reflect the changes in the organization. Galen and his committee are ready to get feedback on recommended changes, and to make recommendations to the Board for the annual meeting. This review is long overdue. Carol will have copies of the By-Laws for distribution at the January meeting.

• VALA’s Membership Committee needs to begin marketing the new dues structure and the value-added services VALA provides for all Listers and Assessors. This marketing also needs to be the responsibility of all VALA members.

• It is time for VALA to look at developing a president successor plan. The changes that have been made and will continue to be made makes it very difficult to become a VALA president without having committee experience and specific responsibilities prior to his/her election. Addressing this plan is vital to maintaining focus and direction.

Submitted By:
John B. Fike President

RANDOLPH TOWN OFFICE
RANDOLPH VT

TENTATIVE AGENDA

Secretary’s Minutes
Treasurer’s Report
President’s Comments
VLCT:  Steve Jeffrey—Comments, Updates, etc.
Property Valuation & Review:  Bill Johnson—Comments, Updates, etc.

COMMITTEE REPORTS & DISCUSSION

Education – John Vickery, Louise Ferris-Burt, Todd LeBlanc,
Legislative/Legislative Calendar – Tom Vickery, Randy Viens, Galen Mudgett, Al Jerard
Condo/Commercial—Ed Clodfelter
NEMRC – Chris Miele – Support Information & Comments
Newsletter & Web Site—Penny Allyn
PVR – Comments –Bill Johnson or Michelle Wilson
VALA Financial Restructure Committee               New Members—Board of Directors
By-laws:  Galen Mudgett, Carol Hammond                     

Old Business:

New Business:

Additional members for By-laws Committee

Any Other Business:

Adjournment and next meeting date

]]> http://www.valavt.org/meetings/agendas/2011/12/wednesday-january-4-2012-meeting-agenda/feed/ 0 http://www.valavt.org/meetings/minutes/2011/12/november-2-2011-minutes-of-vala-bi-monthly-board-meeting/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=november-2-2011-minutes-of-vala-bi-monthly-board-meeting http://www.valavt.org/meetings/minutes/2011/12/november-2-2011-minutes-of-vala-bi-monthly-board-meeting/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:03:45 +0000 admin http://www.valavt.org/?p=394 The meeting was called to order at approximately 9:00 a.m. by President John Fike.   A list of attendees follow the minutes.

The first order of business was the election of officers.

Louise Ferris-Burt made the motion to re-elect Pat French as Vice President.  The motion was seconded and passed.

The motions were made to re-elect Carol Hammond as Secretary and Louise Ferris-Burt as Treasurer.  The motions were seconded and passed.  Paul Wildasin made the motion that the Secretary cast one vote for the slate of officers.  The motion was seconded and passed.

VLCT—Steve Jeffreys—the abatement proposal by the Governor on education tax that will require approval by legislature.  Ways and Means Committee have already approved the measure.  It will allow for abatement of the education tax to the towns for the amount they owe to the education fund.  Municipal taxes have to be abated by same percentage as the education tax.  Towns will be reimbursed for the amounts as they abate.  The figures of at least 50% damages for abatement and that taxpayers have to be out of their homes or homes can’t be inhabited for at least 90 days, have been mentioned, but there is nothing in the language of the bill that will go through the legislature that uses those numbers.  The Tax Commissioner has been given authority to put forth procedures to abate and gives the Tax Commissioner a lot of flexibility—she will be looking for input from towns.  This gives VALA an opportunity to work with the Tax Commissioner as to what is needed.  Several questions were raised about abatement and the percentages of abatement based on extent of damage. No decision has been made as to whether it is for the parcel as a whole or just improvements.  Abatement runs from April 1—tax year is from April 1 but there is nothing in statute that says that, just a few lines in statute written in 1787.  This allows for a lot of leeway.   Since towns do things differently, it is important to get information to the Tax Commissioner—there is no “one size fits all”.   Hopefully the Tax Commissioner will meet with VALA before making final decisions.  Since there are so many variables, Steve encouraged towns to get information to him and to PV&R so that the many different scenarios can be presented to the Tax Commissioner and the legislature for their decisions.

The question was raised as to how this is going to be funded and Steve answered by saying that there is five to six million dollars more in the education fund than previously thought.  The reserve account is full.  But, because property values are going down etc,  there will be a two to three cent increase in the education tax next year.  There is an estimated $110 million in property damages as a result of the hurricane with five to seven towns were really hard hit.  Steve recommended that towns wait awhile before abating, to see how long people are out of their homes, damages, etc.  Parameters for how this is all going to be handled are still to be determined.

Much more discussion followed on abatements, plus abatement on penalties and interest.

The BAR association has recommended that issues of destroyed property, changing property lines,  destroyed land records, planning and zoning issues, river changes, be given to a task force to recommended any necessary changes to law

The administration of the education property tax; the state  would not get  involved in appraisal process, just billing and collecting;  questions have been raised as to how many more people would have to be hired to accomplish this.  It is before the Ways and Means Committee for a decision.

Open meeting law, public records, transparency—there are 260 exemptions to open information, public records laws.  Legislature needs to work on this.

Annual Meeting went well.  We now have an up to date membership list.  We are starting a new campaign to get new members. A membership committee will be appointed.

Education Committee—John Vickery talked about the upcoming class on January 19, 2012 on ratio studies taught by Bob Estey.

This seminar will cover the use of assessment ratio studies in mass appraisal, COD, etc. This seminar will give the new Lister and the experienced Lister the basics of how to determine the Level of Appraisal and degree of equity.

Town Officers Education Conference (TOEC)—-these will be held in Burlington on April 4^th, Fairlee on April 10^th, and Rutland on April 18^th.  VALA will sponsor two workshops, one on record retention and the other on reading and interpreting deeds.

If anyone has ideas for workshops, please let John know.

Legislative Committee—Tom Vickery and Randy Viens—assessing and taxation of alternative energy sources.  Studies are being done to show increasing values of these facilities.  Right now, it is in the information gathering stage.  How do towers, wind mills, wind turbines, etc affect value…values of leases on a property.  Contracts are all different, small towns have never had to deal with this kind of thing.  It was suggested that it would be profitable to everyone if there could be a survey of sorts done of properties that have alternative energy sources and if there any sales that could substantiate increases in property values.

Newsletter—  Carol will be cross trained to be able to do the Newsletter.  Penny is looking for pictures and/or articles for the January newsletter.

Current Use Coalition—Tom Vickery  feels something will pass in some version with a penalty provision.  Decisions should be forthcoming from a  meeting to be held December 2^nd. 

Deb Brighton said that from her study she did not see that Listers had over valued land in current use which has been the accusation by many for the last year.

Website—new website is nearly done.  Chuck Burt has been extremely helpful.  The new website address is www.valavt.org.

Penny still needs short bios and some pictures for the website.

Financial report—new format which looks good and should make it easier for Budget Committee to come up with a good budget for the next year.

Tom was asked if he had a consultant yet who will look at our ratio studies.  PVR is getting together info that was requested—has not been downloaded yet.  It is a work in progress.

Goals and Objectives—cross training for newsletter, effective membership committee to retain and attract new members, Lister education, functioning new website, VALA a strong advocacy in Legislature, review and update of bylaws—needs to be done by the July meeting in order to have any changes  ready for voting at next annual meeting

Pauline made a motion to approve the minutes of Sept. 14.  The motion was seconded and passed.

A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Annual Meeting with corrections.  The motion was seconded and passed

Treasurer’s report—new recording device for Carol.  Paul Wildasin made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s report.  The motion was seconded and passed.  A suggestion for an additional  column showing the percentage of over or under budgeted amounts.

PVR—Michelle Wilson—in middle of equalization studies, trying to enhance the enhancements of last year.  Further work has been done on  property transfers….some enhancements are being tested which would give Listers a read only capacity and the ability to download all sales  in the state and export them to an excel spreadsheet. Documentation will be sent to each town, using the current use download email address.  Listers need to check it out and see how it works and make any suggestions.  Won’t have view of anything that hasn’t been completed, still in a quasi-confidential mode.   Can be searched by name, address, date, property location, category codes, etc. etc.

PVR will be working with Real Data to provide a broader search sales base within a couple weeks.  Instructions will be sent by mail and email.  Because of tighter budgets, documents etc will be sent via email and PVR will be using the current use email addresses to send information..  Listers are encouraged to check email on a regular basis as

Working on a current use on-line system.  This should streamline the process to be more user friendly for applicants and more efficient for the state.  They will be working with agriculture departments, towns, county foresters, town clerks, and asking for feedback for further refinements, —should be on line by 2012-2013.

Funding will be coming from the property tax return—from the additional revenue that will be generated from the increase in tax for working farms that transferred property, no longer do farms get reduced rate but pay the same as anyone else.

PVR is also working on mobile homes,  questions have been raised by Town Clerks and Listers such as should there always be a bill of sale, how can you know when a mobile home enters or leaves town, is it real property, should it be on the grand list, etc.  In the future there will be a bill of sale, PTTR, and a deed as in any other real estate transaction and therefore will be on the grand list.  There is not much in statute about mobile homes.  A letter will be going out to towns that will clarify many of these issues.

The EPTTR is still in its first year, it is still a work in progress, but already 43% of attorneys have been using  them which is very encouraging since they had only projected 20% in the first year.   Clerks have 30 days  to complete the EPTTR’s.

On the equalization study, Listers shouldn’t assume that all the sales information is correct, because the information may not be correct on the PTTR.  Michelle will present how to use the report to the Listers in January.  It is has been proposed that the sales information  be posted on the state website and Michelle asked the group how they felt.  Privacy issues were discussed versus the ease of having everything on one website.

Chris Miele:   NEMRC is working on a program where Listers can limit what information is put out for public view.  There is a need to determine what information is really public.  Listers need to be really careful as to the information that is included on the grand list—what is really necessary.  In the next few months, NEMRC will be putting out a program which will allow Listers to include only the information that they want.  We need to know what information we can distribute and still be safe.

Also, we only need to send out a grand list in the format that we normally use.

Webinars—in November, reconciling grand list

It is imperative that the grand list be sent by 12/31;  this is sent to Michelle who in turn sends it to Brad James for education fund calculations.  Spring grand list seminars will be held as usual.  If it is not sent, calculations from a prior grand list could be used which would cause funding problems if there was a large disparity between the incorrect and correct grand list.

Ed Clodfelter—CAMA—nothing new to change.  VALA could become an IAAO affiliate which would give us a group membership and access to the IAAO library and other benefits.  It would lend credence to VALA regarding certification.   Membership is $180.00

Pauline Moore made the motion that VALA become an affilitate of  IAAO.  The motion was seconded and after discussion, the motion was defeated.  Tom Vickery asked for criteria for membership, to what does it subject members.

Pauline Moore made the motion to explore being an affiliate member of IAAO and for Ed Clodfelter to bring back a report at the January 2012 meeting.   The motion was seconded and passed.

Paul Wildasin made the motion to adjourn.  The motion was seconded and passed.  The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carol Hammond

Secretary

______________________________________________________________________

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2011 AT 9:00 A.M.

RANDOLPH TOWN OFFICE
RANDOLPH VT

TENTATIVE AGENDA

Reorganization, election of officers

Secretary’s Minutes

Treasurer’s Report

President’s Comments

VLCT: Steve Jeffrey—Comments, Updates, etc.

Property Valuation & Review: Bill Johnson/Michelle Wilson—Comments, Updates, etc.
Martha Newton—Help Desk
COMMITTEE REPORTS & DISCUSSION

Education – John Vickery, Louise Ferris-Burt, Todd LeBlanc. John will report on 2 new classes that will be offered.
Legislative/Legislative Calendar – Tom Vickery, Randy Viens, Galen Mudgett, Al Jerard : Tom & Randy will report on areas of
valuation of alternative energy facilities and legislation to address high local cost of tax appeals;
Retaining consultant for Equalization Study
Membership List, Newsletter, and Web Site progress—Penny Allyn; looking for additional members for Membership Committee
Membership Committee will meet after regular meeting.
Microsolve/Cama – New CAMA Committee—Chairman’s Report—Ed Clodfelter
Finance Committee: Richard Lancaster
By-Laws: Galen

New Business:
Membership Committee: Rules and Responsibilities

Any other Business: Adjournment & next meeting date

John then introduced the officers of VALA—Pat French, Vice President; Louise Ferris-Burt, Treasurer; and Carol Hammond, Secretary.  Louise reported that the Treasurer’s books have been checked by Pat French who said everything was good.   Carol and Penny spent much time in the preparation of the Annual Meeting, and also working on getting an accurate, up to date membership list.

Also introduced were chair people of the various committees-Education Committee….John Vickery, Todd LeBlanc.   Legislative—Randy Viens, Tom Vickery.  Newsletter and membership committee—Penny Allyn.

Penny is requesting pictures from Listers around the state and she is also is doing web design.

County Directors introduced.  John encouraged Listers to contact the Director from their county if there are any questions or concerns.

John briefly reviewed the contents of the packets that were handed out for each person attending.

Tom Vickery’s class on the shortcomings of the State Equalization Study– good feedback on the class by attendees and information on the findings will be or have been given to Bill Johnson.

Committee Reports—Randy Viens-Legislative:   Tom Vickery and Randy have been part of the Current Use Tax Coalition with the goal of making Current Use more viable for the future.  The sub committee met this summer will meet one more time before reporting back to the main committee by October.  Tom has been working with Deb Brighton to get some numbers back to the committee.  Randy stressed that he and Tom are part of this committee only in an advisory capacity.  The committee realizes the knowledge that Tom and Randy have and their deep interest in the subject.

John stressed the effect that phone calls, emails, etc can have on Legislators by their constituents.  Therefore, one goal of VALA is to keep Listers abreast of bills that are coming up so that they can call their legislators with concerns/questions before a bill is passed.

Randy said the issue of taxing travel trailers will be coming up again.

Tom Vickery said he is still pursuing the sharing of cost by the State for legal expenses incurred during the appeal process.

The revenue realized from Tom’s  Equalization Study Class will be used to hire someone to go through the numbers to see if it is still viable, and what improvements could be made, etc.

Education Committee:  John Vickery and Todd LeBlanc are working on the scholarship program; they did some polling and as a result will be tweaking the process.  A handout was furnished with education recommendations as of September 14, 2011 which also included the results of the VALA Scholarship Survey.  They noted that in 7 years, there have been only 4 applications for scholarships.

They are still looking for ideas for TOEC workshops.  Deed reading was mentioned as a high priority.

Abatements were also discussed as a topic because of the recent hurricane and flooding problems.  At least 20 towns were affected by the hurricane and as a side note, it was recommended that Abatement Boards be educated as to the effect of abatements on towns’ grand lists. While the town can abate both school and municipal taxes, the State will still get 100% of education taxes which means the towns will have to make up the difference perhaps in a surcharge tax the following year.

Pat French offered the Randolph office for abatement information meetings.

Listers are encouraged to call or email their suggestions for topics for TOEC workshops to John or Todd.

Website and newsletter—Penny Allyn:  The website is almost ready, Chuck’s part is done.  Penny and John will be working on adding information next year.  The Newsletter will continue to be a separate mailing.

Membership Committee is made up of John Fike, Penny Allyn and Carol Hammond.  A membership packet will be mailed to all members.

CAMA Committee–Ed Clodfelter:  Ed recently attended an IAAO conference in Arizona.  A note of interest was that in some states there has been a 70% foreclosure rate.

There will be a new CAMA “punch list” as the old list is complete.  If anyone has suggestions for the new list, call or email Chris Miele or Ed Clodfelter.

Peter Whitney is now working for the Department of Transportation and will be looking for abutters of state owned land….is developing new maps for this purpose.

County Meetings:  County Directors and Alternates were chosen and the new listing will be posted on the new website.

Michael P. Cyprian Lister of the Year Award

After a brief review of the background of the Michael P. Cyprian Award by John Fike, the award was presented to Randy Viens.  A testimonial read by Milton Lister Teri Sabens is included at the end of these minutes.
CONGRATULATIONS, RANDY!!!!!

The speaker for the morning was Chad Roberge, President of Avitar Associates, Terra Map Division.  Chad has combined his knowledge of assessing and mapping with a variety of map options and Avitar’s assessing software has proven to be popular among a growing number of Vermont and New Hampshire towns.

The importance of tax mapping was explained—that it is a critical part of a town’s service and a great PR tool for residents.  He also explained what can be done with mapping once it is in place…different overlays for ancient roads, zoning, etc.

Bill Johnson:  Thus far only 80 towns have responded to the survey from the State concerning damages sustained by the hurricane and consequent flooding.  Bill asked everyone to complete the surveys and send them to the State. It is a difficult process for everyone, just give best information that you have.   Towns need to take time to assess damages and not to be in a hurry to abate taxes until they know what the implications are for the town—i.e. tax rates   Towns can abate both municipal and education taxes, but since the Education Fund will get it’s 100%, the rest of the taxpayers will have to make up the difference….there is no free lunch.

The 1600 employees who worked in the Waterbury complex have been relocated where ever there is room.

In view of the storm and flooding, it is imperative that towns have off site storage of their records.

A question was raised about the State offering some guidelines to Abatement Boards listing the effects of abatement on the tax rate and taxpayers and the next year’s grand list.

EPTTR—web based transfers—next version will allow Listers to view transfers as they are recorded.  It will be a view only but could be printed out and perhaps downloaded onto a spreadsheet.

Each town will have a read only view of the whole state and also an export function of the report and will be able to print out the EPTTR.  Errors on the form cannot be fixed on the submitted form because it is a legal document but information can be adjusted at the time the sales study is done.   Michelle pointed out that the EPTTR is not a primary source document, but only a second or third level.  It was not meant to be a primary source document.  Listers should be looking at other documents first, i.e. deed, grand list, etc. for correct information.

Questions were also raised about category codes on the EPTTR—form is so busy now, with so much information, it would be difficult to include more information.  Category codes need to be upgraded—ones we use now are antiquated.  Ed suggested that the Listers could do it and then submit to the State for approval.

Question was raised as to why can’t we have an on line state wide data base?

John added that VALA is willing to work with PVR and help implement programs to accomplish these things.  We need to find a way to do things and not just keep saying why we can’t.

VALA wants to be a party at the table…things are changing; we are in a down market and Listers have to go further and further afield to find comparables.  The sales study and verification forms are a standard, it may not be a perfect standard but it is better than no standard at all.

Do changes in category codes or use codes require a legislative change?  No.

Cathy Powers was introduced as the IT person.

Mary Peterson, Tax Commissioner

Tropical Storm Irene:  Because of the problems that occurred as a result of the storm, the State extended the deadline for filing of homesteads, current use, adjustments, and renter rebates until October 1.

Abatements:  State can do nothing without a legislative change.  Statute is clear that Abatement is a local decision.  There is no way for the State to abate for an individual or to adjust a town’s liability for abatement decisions they have made.  State abatement only comes in effect if a town refuses to collect the property tax.

The 1^st focus of the administration….helping people to dig out and find places to live.

2^nd focus of the administration–getting money to towns…FEMA money, lending opportunities; pilot and current use money.

3^rd area of focus is to assess damages and put a value on what has been damaged and/or lost.  A survey was sent out by Tax Department.  This has been a difficult budget year.  Neither the state nor national economy is doing well in general.

Strategic initiatives

Tax payer outreach and communication:  existing state website—hard to access, needs to be more user friendly.

Recommendation was made to scrap it and start over with clear consistent information and more relevancy.  Writing project:   all communications that go out from Tax Department will be reviewed for clarity.

The Commissioner would like to form a taxpayer advisory board with a separate board for property tax issues and will be looking to VALA for representation on that board.

Technology modernization….new processing system that will integrate all computer systems;  also engaged in digitization of current use.  A funding stream for these projects was received at the last legislative session.

Parking provision in Miscellaneous Tax Bill:  this was very confusing, and not well thought out as is often the case with bills tacked onto the Miscellaneous Tax Bill.  They met with the Agriculture Secretary, head of Agency of Natural Resources, and head of the Dept of Parks and Recreation.

The best course of action is for the administration to work through the Current Use bill that passed the House last session & is now sitting in the Senate.  She is confident that they will be able to take out the legislation that was passed last year which would have been very difficult to administer.

The Tax Department was charged to come out with feasibility study for the State to take over from the towns the billing and collection of the state wide education tax. Listers are encouraged to look this up on line or contact the Tax Department and a copy can be sent.  It is a 45 page study and the legislature is soliciting suggestions/ comments that they can review when they come back in January.  This bill will be a priority of the chair of the Ways and Means Committee.  Send notes to the Tax Dept and a list will be compiled and sent to the committee.

Lister Certification:  Since the Almay study is over a decade old, it would be a good time to order a new study, especially since so much has changed since that study was done.

A question was raised about tax rates in a declining market.

A committee is working on Lister certification.  Because of various setbacks this last year, it was felt that it was more important to keep education going and courses organized.  Therefore, Lister certification took a back seat.

The committee is about 90% done formulating the basis of a program for Listers to look at

Suggesting 3 levels of certification;

Nothing in statute that mandates education, but that PVR needs to provide education

1. basic education…basic knowledge in the office and out in the field
2. master lister..someone who is serious about listing, good working knowledge
3. professional level of assessing…. would recognize employees not just Listers

Will there be specific courses necessary for each level.

Certification would give credibility to the office of Lister as well as resulting rate of pay

John Vickery–Need to get something out this year even if it isn’t complete.

Michelle–Wants to raise the outward perception of Lister.

Listers are considered the prime customers of Property Valuation and Review

Clerks and treasurers are considered professionals because they have taken classes and received certification.

Classes already taken would be applied to this new certification.  Education is prequalification to certification.

 Other comments made both by Michelle and Listers

Certification=credibility with clerks and selectboards.  Need to elevate the office of Lister

State Appraisers don’t feel we are competent.

Caution about certification process—could cause problems in how taxpayers, Selectboard, etc view Listers Based on their level of certification….feels it could work against us.

Recommendation for a State appeals board—do away with BCA and State Appraiser

State Appraisers are appointed but not accountable to PVR.

Not enough district advisors

State should share in the cost of appeals since the largest share of taxes is for the state wide education portion.

BCA should be eliminated—low or no pay, no requirement for education, and no incentive to be educated

Need to resurrect education classes for BCA.

Legislature has created plateaus…cheap to appeal to state appraiser who often has no respect for Listers’ expertise

If the State were to take over billing and collection of education taxes, what cost benefit would there be—cost would be greater—2 billings—postage, billing supplies, another level in government to administer

What benefit would there be to towns or to the state?   Duplication of effort

BCA—treat them for what they are, they know little about the grand list—Listers need to educate them.

BCA needs to know that Listers are presumed right and it is up to the tax payer to prove them wrong.

Who put Justices of the Peace on the BCA?

Listers need professional recognition to give to Selectboard…perhaps this would give more validity to our profession.  We are professionals

Would certification prevent people from wanting to be Lister?  Certification would be education oriented.

Needs to be conveyed to selectboards that Listers are professionals.

Send proposals/suggestions to the Tax Dept. for consideration.

Concern that money for Lister training doesn’t always go for Lister training

Listers in some towns don’t even know they have money allocated for training.

Letter from PVR goes to treasurers when money is deposited for Listers and what the money is for.  Letter should go to Listers also.

Michelle can’t cc Listers if a letter goes out to treasurer.

Michelle uses the current use email address for Listers

PVR is trying to use email more and more.

Per parcel payment letter will be sent to Listers

President’s closing comments

It is time to rethink our system — real estate market has changed, buyers are more sophisticated than they used to be…more knowledgeable…  Need to change systems to recognize this; the appeal process is out of date in today’s world

Want to hear more that we can do things rather than reasons why we can’t

4 years for certification is unacceptable.  There are people in this room who in a week could have put a syllabus together and put a program together to present to the group for review.

Tax Commissioner appreciated the vigor of our comments.

John introduced the next speaker, Kevin Bartlett from Real Data Corporation.

Real Data is a private enterprise that provides information to towns, the Dept. of Revenue and subscribers.

Working with Real Data would be a joint venture with PVR and could have a great impact on towns as we have fewer and fewer sales and have to look elsewhere for comparable sales.  It would be a good opportunity to work with Real Data to work on data management of the equalization studies.

This is a town specific utilization of publically released Vermont sales data, (released weekly) to review, compare and validate those sales for use in the annual Equalization Study.

After Mr. Bartlett’s presentation, the meeting adjourned at approximately 3:00 p.m.

Testimonial for Randy Viens

Randy started his venture in property valuation around 1983+/- as a licensed Real Estate broker serving the Chittenden county area. After enough of that he then took the required courses to obtain his Fee appraiser license around 1987+/-. He became a Lister in the town of Georgia in 1991, helped with the reappraisal for 1993 and continued as a Lister for Georgia until 1996. He continued with fee appraising until 1994 when he was hired by the Town of Essex. He started as assisting the town assessor with the title of appraiser; he did all the duties of a Lister and was eager to learn all the new changes as they occurred in the Vermont state statutes. He was promoted to the Town assessor in 2000+/- where he continues to do an outstanding job serving not only to the property owners in Essex but all property valuation departments in each town and city that calls on him.
In Essex Town and Village Randy goes out of his way to help all property owners understand fair assessments and shares all information on how we determine values to keep taxation fair among the taxpayers. After a great explanation, a few peanuts, some sweets out of the candy dish we have very happy tax payers leave with a great understanding on how we work for the property owners to keep accurate records and make sure we’re always on top of things. Randy always enforces the fact to the ‘shy’ folks that your property is your biggest investments don’t ever hesitate to come in and talk to us.
He has been the best boss and a great guy to work with, no swelled head for him; everything is equal in his eyes. ~ Terri Sabens – Assessor’s staff (& thanks to Penney Viens for some of the info and dates)
Randy has been a member of the VLCT Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Relations Policy Committee since 2006. That Committee develops the VLCT legislative platform for the coming year. He has represented the Vermont Assessors and Lister’s Association perspective on that Committee and since the property tax represents almost half of all state and local taxes collected in Vermont that is a big part of the public policy debate in the legislature every year.
Randy has always been a reliable representative of the Lister’s and VLCT before numerous legislative committee hearings. He spends the time necessary to assure that property tax law gets enacted with the legislators fully aware of the intricacies of and implications on the property tax. ~ Steve Jeffrey
Randy has been on the Legislative Committee of VALA for a number of years and has testified before both House and Senate committees on issues that concern Vermont Lister’s and Assessors. He has been a very effective speaker before these committees and has helped on legislation concerning Current Use, definition of a “parcel”, and subsidized housing. He keeps VALA informed of legislative action concerning property tax issues. Hopes this helps and am sure that John will add to this. ~ Tom Vickery

Feedback from Town officials:

As the chair of the Essex Selectboard, I have nothing but admiration for Randy Viens, our town assessor. Randy’s work has always been professional and knowledgeable and his contribution to the smooth running of the assessor’s office is very much appreciated by the Selectboard.

Personal qualities that make him a standout in his work with people:
I am also a member of the Essex Board of Civil Authority and I have been very impressed with Randy’s dealings with town residents and taxpayers. During BCA sessions regarding property tax assessments and requests for relief from taxes for a variety of reasons, Randy handles the questions with understanding and the ability to make sure Essex residents are given every opportunity to express their needs and concerns. Randy is a valued asset to the Town of Essex. ~ Linda Myers
Randy has a great disposition, work ethics and is a great team player. His high level of customer service is outstanding. Having him here is an extreme bonus for both the Town and Village of Essex. ~ Ann Myers – Managers office staff
Randy always maintains his cool in often times confronted by land owners. He makes sure when they walk away that they have a full understanding of the circumstances. His temperament should be used as a model to the up and coming generations. Always willing to lend a hand in any matter that may arise.
He is always good natured, even temperament, quick wit. He is a rock. If you need help, go see Randy. ~ Sharon Kelley – Community Development staff
At the Village Board of Abatement meeting in June, one of the parties asking for abatement of taxes cited “error of the Lister.” Randy initially questioned why they had not appealed the assessment when it was issued in 2007 or any of the years after. After some discussion, Randy set up an appointment with the property owner for later that week (the property owner was only in town briefly). Randy went to the property and did find some errors in the assessment. Based on what he saw, he was able to reduce the assessed value of the property by approximately $60,000. I think this is a good example of how Randy’s personality and responsiveness helps with how he deals with the public. ~ Susan McNamara-Hill, Clerk-Treasurer – Village of Essex Junction staff
Randy is an awesome person to worth with. Always happy to help – goes overboard. Always smiling, wonderful person as well as Lister. He makes the extra effort to provide the best info available in a very congenial way. ~ Lauren Morrisseau – Village of Essex Junction staff
Randy is thorough in explaining to residents what any additions or changes made to their property and how it affects their assessment. Randy is always friendly, smiling and eager to assistant in any way. ~ Terry Hass – Village of Essex Junction staff
One of the many things that make Randy stand out is the way that he deals with the public. I have witnessed him interacting with taxpayers, and watched him deal with irate individuals calmly and respectfully. He does a tremendous job of making the individual taxpayer understand the process and recognize that he is there to help and not antagonize. Throughout the recent reappraisal, he dealt with many unhappy taxpayers and did a great job of diffusing very negative situations and turning them into positive interactions in very trying circumstances. ~ Douglas Fisher – Finance Director

Sign In

A list of attendees follows the minutes.

Ed Clodfelter made a motion to approve the Secretary’s report.  The motion was seconded and passed.

The Treasurer’s report was accepted on a motion by Lisa Truchon.  The motion was seconded and passed.

A copy of the Treasurer’s report follows the minutes.

Louise also reported that VALA is required to file an annual tax return because of an incorrect/incomplete registration years ago.  Since the individuals who originally applied could not be determined, a new number had to be assigned.  VALA is considered a trade organization rather than a 501C3.

President’s report:  Tom Vickery’s class on equalization held in August was attended by about 70 people and there was an excellent response to the survey of the class.  The equalization data was sent to Bill Johnson for review.  Bill responded and he will be working with IT dept in getting the data in a format that can be disseminated to everyone interested and that can make analysis possible.

Annual Meeting:  sign up starts at 8:30 a.m.  Good speakers lined up, one on mapping and the other on equalization.  Mary Peterson will be at the meeting, probably at the morning session rather than the afternoon session.  The agenda will be adjusted if possible to accommodate her.

We are doing pre-registration this year to cut down on the time to register at the door.

A membership list is being developed as not everyone is on the Act 60 Comp. list.

PV&R–Bill Johnson—In spite of the hurricane and subsequent flooding, no town has lost its capacity to  maintain its grand lists.  There have been questions about abatements due to hurricane damage and what do we do about this year’s grand list. Since the damage from the storm was done after April 1, it would not be appropriate to make changes in value or abate taxes for this year.  How it will affect next year’s grand list remains to be seen, it will be an assessment issue, houses that have been destroyed, and land that has been radically changed.  There is also the issue of the effect on the overall market—the tourist trade both in the fall and ski season.  This will be a very complex issue as it plays out in the next year or so.  To the degree we can get people back into the state for fall foliage or ski season, will have an effect on values.  Irene will continue to be the big story for some time to come.

EPTTR—the next version will allow Listers to be able to access  PTTR’s.  PV&R wants to provide download ability.  John Fike will talk with Michelle Wilson re: a committee for PTTR issues, how it is going to happen,

whether it will be a read only or print only document, and what will be the variable issues that will make this more user friendly for Listers.

Tax abatement:  Because of the damages due to the hurricane a question was raised about abatement of education taxes and that the Tax Commissioner has authority to abate education taxes.  However, this only applies if the State bills taxes in lieu of a town.  Any changes to this would take a change in statute for the state to forgive the education portion.  Statute cited is

If town fails to administer its taxes, then #3 kicks in.  Towns can abate municipal and education taxes but  the state will still get their 100%.  Towns would have to eat the school portion. Board of Abatements need to be sensitive to town budgets. It is important for Selectboards, BCA, and abatement boards to know the effects of abatement on the grand list and the tax rate.   Listers need to be proactive—get an inventory of loss and extent of loss/damages.

There will be some money available from the Federal Government, for emergency relief.  Still a tussle in Washington about funding, but there probably won’t be much more than what FEMA will provide.  Care needs to be taken regarding action as a result of the hurricane and flooding.  Vt has AAA bond rating.  But if we do things that the rating agencies do not think are prudent, it could reduce the states rating.  Bill will ask DA’s and Listers to find out the extent of the damages, how many houses lost, etc.  Some properties are destroyed…and people will not be able to rebuild—not allowed by EPA.  All this to determine the effect on the grand lists and then what will be the effect on next year’s grand lists.  Perhaps a range in dollars or percentages for the loss to see where towns are at………also, a range from properties that are damaged, but can be rebuilt to properties where buildings are destroyed and the land is gone.

Towns need some guidelines—criteria that PVR is looking for, rather than let each town determine their damages based on their opinions.   Boards of Abatement shouldn’t act too quickly, but should wait to see what State response may or may not be regarding State aid.  There are issues of insurance—some people have flood insurance but many do not.  Grand Lists will take a hit next year for sure, we just don’t know the extent.

NEMRC—Chris Miele—New version of Apex;   the Help Desk is looking for ways to get it on everyone’s computer—not complicated but just takes lots of time to accomplish.  Chris is looking for ways to refine program—get rid of non-essentials.  Apex 4 has to expire or needs to be uninstalled before Apex 5 can be installed.

There is a new CAMA committee to continue the work on enhancements to the program.  A question was asked if there is any way to retrieve cost sheets from prior years….answer is “no”.

Chris and Ed Clodfelter will be holding a CAMA basics class at the end of September.

In light of the problems encountered as a result of the hurricane and especially the flooding, the issue of disaster recovery is even more relevant.  Backups are critical!!!!

NEMRC has started to do support for CAMA as of this summer.

Ed Clodfelter is now affiliated with NEMRC on a temporary part time basis, will be more full time next year, doing training and support.  Ed also emphasized the necessity of disaster recovery and the digitization of data.

Good time for Listers to make sure that our towns records are safe.

More information will go out in the next newsletter.

Education:  VALA Scholarship survey:  out of 50 surveys, 22 didn’t know that VALA offered a scholarship.

John Vickery recommended keeping the scholarship for a couple more years, do better advertising, and see if there are more takers.  He suggested lowering the amount from $1000.00 to $750.00 as the thousand dollar amount is not sustainable.

The scholarship fund could be self sustaining from the revenue generated by classes sponsored by VALA.  The proceeds from the equalization study seminar conducted by Tom Vickery will be used to hire a consultant to review the State’s current equalization study.

There was discussion regarding dues and that they should reflect the costs of the organization.

Penny Allyn announced that 30 new VALA memberships were received at the time of Tom’s class.

Suggestions for classes, either as a seminar or at the TOEC’s were reading deeds as well as the many versions of “Trusts” and the effect they have.

Web Site:  Penny reported that the website will not be up and running by the Annual Meeting, but will be shortly after that.  There should be a display at the Annual Meeting to show the different programs that will be available on the new website.   Regarding cost, there will be a $1500 one time fee.  Penny and Carol Hammond will be inputting data at first.  John will talk to Chuck Burt as to the costs of maintaining the web site.

John asked if the VALA  newsletter could be sent to our legislators and the answer is  “yes”.  It is important for VALA to maintain visibility with our legislators.

Finance Committee:  The committee has made the following recommendations for dues:

Lister Office            $50.00
Individual            $25.00
Professional            $35.00
Government            $25.00

Dues will follow the fiscal year and be due July 1.  Changes will take place July 1, 2012.

Membership Committee:  Penny Allyn, John Fike, Carol Hammond
Bylaws need to be looked at to make sure all items are applicable.  In November we should establish a committee to look at the bylaws.

After more discussion, Camilla moved to adjust the new dues structure for 2012 to be presented at annual meeting with an additional bullet of “Other”.  The motion was seconded and passed.

Pat French moved to elect John Fike as President for the upcoming year.  Pauline Moore seconded the motion.  Motion passed.

Ed Clodfelter moved to adjourn.  Motion was seconded and passed.

Respectfully submitted,

Carol Hammond

Financials

Attendance

There were number goals and objectives set by the president for 2010-2011:

• Develop a new web site

• Finalize publishing the VALA Newsletter on a regular basis

• Work with PVR to have a Lister Certification Program for the 2011 Annual Meeting

• Develop an accurate VALA Membership list

• Continue VALA’s advocacy visibility in the legislature

• Revise VALA’s dues structure

• Review of VALA’s scholarship program

• Implement the NEMRC/CAMA committee enhancements for those towns using

this system

The results of these goals and objectives are outlined below:

Web-site

The new web-site has taken much longer that we anticipated. The designer was working at home to design the site in his spare time to save money. Penny Allyn and me spent many hours looking at web-sites to find the most user friendly format. As of the first week in September we will have a comprehensive site layout. The next step is for Penny and I to work with Chuck Burt to input all the information. Penny will have an update at the annual meeting.

Newsletter

The newsletter is now published four times during the year-Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. There has been excellent feed back from our members. Penny Allyn needs your news and comments to improve the publication.

Lister Certification Program

We did not meet this goal. The program has been a work in process at PVR for 3-4 years. I have been unsuccessful in getting the final product in 2010-2011. Lister Certification will again be one of my priority goals for 2011-2012.

Accurate Membership List

Carol Hammond, Penny Allyn, and I formed a membership committee to develop forms and spread sheets to ensure the accuracy of paid memberships. This list will be used to distribute selected VALA documents and information to paid members only.

Legislative Visibility

Tom Vickery and Randy Viens spent a busy year in the legislature as advocates for VALA. They worked with coalitions to develop new Current Use language. Only a small segment of their work was passed by the legislature. The Transparency Bill-H 73 did pass. Many bills in the first section did not move, but are still in the hopper.

Dues Restructure

The finance committee took a hard look at the $15/lister dues that have not changed in many years. About 50% of the $15 pays for your lunch at the annual meeting. The remaining $7.50 from approximately 124 members does not provide adequate VALA funding for the services you have expressed are need as VALA members. There will a new dues structure presented at the Annual meeting for the 2011-2012 Fiscal Year.

VALA Scholarship Program

John Vickery on the Education Committee has been researching the relevance of this program and will have a presentation at the Annual Meeting.

NEMRC/ CAMA Enhancements

All the enhancements that were on the committee’s punch list have been implemented

The Michael P. Cyprian Lister of the Year Award

The committee received eight candidates for 2011 award which is a record. The committee spent a great deal of time in reviewing the qualifications of all candidates before reaching consensus on the award winner. The winner will be announced at the annual meeting.

Annual Meeting Speakers

We have two outstanding presentations this year. Chad Roberge from Terra Map will demonstrate the need and uses of tax maps in the town offices. Kevin Bartlett from Real Data Corp will demonstrate the use of equalization study data in statistical research and analysis for a town and the state. In addition the Vermont Tax Commissioner will attend lunch and the afternoon session.

We had a reasonably good year in meeting our goals 2010-2011.  If you elect me as your president for 2011-2012, I will continue to work to improve VALA’s quality of service to its members.

Thank you for your continued VALA membership support.

John Fike, VALA President

ANNUAL MEETING—SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

AT

VERMONT TECHNICAL COLLEGE, RANDOLPH, VT (RED SCHOOLHOUSE)

8:30 A.M.  REGISTRATION –  COFFEE & DONUTS

9:00 A.M.  BUSINESS MEETING

Election of President            Treasurer’s Report            Committee Reports

9:30 A.M.  PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

10:00 A.M.  COFFEE BREAK:  COUNTY MEETINGS TO SELECT COUNTY DIRECTORS

AND ALTERNATES TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

11:00 A.M.  MICHAEL P. CYPRIAN LISTER OF THE YEAR AWARD

11:15 A.M.  CHAD ROBERGE, PRESIDENT OF AVITAR ASSOCIATES’  TERRA MAP DIV.

Topic:  Importance of Town Mapping

12:15 P.M.  LUNCH PROVIDED BY VALA FOR MEMBERS & GUESTS

Vt. Tax Commissioner, Mary Peterson will join us for lunch and the P.M. session

1:30 P.M.    KEVIN BARTLETT FROM REAL DATA CORPORATION

Topic:  using equalization study data to produce statistical analysis

2:30 P.M.    Vt. Tax Commissioner, Mary Peterson  Q & A

3:00 P.M.  CLOSING REMARKS BY VALA PRESIDENT & ADJOURNMENT

**************************************************************

VALA NEEDS A HEAD COUNT FOR COFFEE/DONUTS, ETC.  & LUNCH.  PLEASE NOTIFY

CAROL HAMMOND BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011 IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND AND WANT TO BE COUNTED FOR COFFEE/DONUTS &/OR LUNCH.   THANK YOU

CAROL’S EMAIL: 

TELE:    HOME-802-257-0207 WORK—802-257-0292 Ext 18

DUES MAY BE PAID AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OR

TO SEND YOUR DUES PRIOR TO THE ANNUAL MEETING:

Mail completed form with payment to

Town of Reading,  Attn.  Penny Allyn

PO Box 72

Reading, Vt.  05062

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS ARE ON VALA’S WEBSITE:  VTALA.ORG

DIRECTIONS TO THE RED SCHOOL HOUSE

Take Route 66 from the Interstate up (east)to Randolph Center.  At the intersection where you would normally enter the VTC campus, turn right.  Just down the road on your left will be a white church.  The multistory old Red School House is just beyond the white church.  There is parking at the Red School House and behind the white church.

VALA’s Newsletter contains the Presidents Report, New Business, and PV&R updates.  The fall Newsletter edition (Volume 2 Issue 3) will be ready for publication in early November.  As always we encourage feedback!   

A list of attendees follows the minutes.

Tom Vickery made a motion to approve the Secretary’s report.  The motion was seconded and passed.

Treasurer’s Report:  One report for the last two months and one for year end.  Only income was dues, but we still came in about $500 under budget.  Postage will have to be increased due to increases at the Post Office.  Donations and Domain Name Registration were not budgeted for.  Approved money for revamping of the website-$1500.00 was approved at the Annual Meeting, but no bills have been presented as yet.  John will be pushing for the website to be up and running by the date of the Annual Meeting.

A motion was made to accept the Treasurer’s Report.  The motion was seconded and passed.

John will be getting out a memo before the Annual Meeting regarding the budget and perhaps some changes.

The Treasurer’s reports follow the minutes.

President’s Comments: 

Lister of the Year:  there are 8 candidates—very good response from towns all over the state.

Annual Meeting:  Speakers will be Kevin from Real Data and Chad from Avitar, a tax mapping company.  More information on these speakers will be forthcoming prior to the Annual Meeting.  At one time, there were

70-80% of towns who had some version of tax mapping.  About a third of those have not kept their maps current.  At present, about half the towns in the state have tax mapping.  Good tax mapping is a valuable asset for any town. 

Membership List:  still having trouble coming up with an accurate membership list, it is a work in progress.

CAMA—Version Control:  important to get everyone on the same version.  Frank Parsch got the cost tables up to date in 2007, then he left; Dave Tanner worked on tables-now he is gone.  There is no one now to work on cost tables on an annual basis—no changes or upgrades since 2008.  It is critical that we work on this.

Punch List:  completed.  Thanks to Bill Johnson who found enough money to accomplish this project.  We need a new CAMA committee to set new goals.  Volunteers for this committee are:

Pauline Moore, Lisa Truchon, Ed Clodfelter, Sally Archer, Louise Ferris-Burt, John or Noel from Fairlee, Chris Miele from NEMRC,

Cathy Powers & Martha Newton from PV&R.

Equalization Sales Study taught by Tom Vickery:  will be held on August 12, 2011 in Randolph.  The class will be limited to 100, and if there are more than 100 who want to attend, there will be a second class.  Because we are in the midst of a volatile market with few sales and increasing numbers of foreclosures, VALA needs to study the market.  One issue that needs addressing—is the Sales Study methodology appropriate for small towns.  Tom Vickery made a motion that John Fike be authorized to contact the Tax Commissioner to get data from the last sales studies.  The motion was seconded and passed.

A suggestion was made that a syllabus be provided for Tom’s class.

Bylaws:  There may be some changes; John will get together with the committee.

Scholarships:  Since only 2 people have taken advantage of the scholarship, should we continue to offer it; is it necessary; how can it be promoted—should changes be made; are people aware it exists.

Steve Jeffrey

Steve provided a hand out on the Education fund Outlook.  The 2012 education tax has increased—first time since Acts 60 & 68 were enacted.  When asked on what the average cost per student, $8500.00 was based, Steve said it wasn’t based on anything and the amount was sup0posed to be adjusted each year.  It is a fictitious number set by the legislature that only benefits big towns and those who get sate aid.  The tax rate is up because the education grand list has decreased.  The declining school population is an issue that is of concern.  A couple of interesting notes that may or may not be known:  1.) 70% of the education tax comes from the property tax and 2.)  The Community High School of Vermont, [the largest high school in the state with 4100 students and 47 full time teachers and approximately 350 part-time adjunct teachers distributed among the state’s nine correctional facilities] is now permanently funded by the education fund.

There is a bill in the legislature to have the State bill and collect the education property taxes.  A consultant has been hired for the sum of $200,000.00 to look into education financing, and is to report back to Joint fiscal by January 18, 2012 with their findings.

There are changes in the language for penalties for misfiling homestead declarations—8% penalty if the results are a lower tax bill, and 3% penalty if results are a higher tax bill.  It will be up to the towns to decide whether to put it into effect.

Bill Johnson

Current Use—one goal is to get rid of land “parked” in the Current Use program.  Some of the criteria addressed this situation—permits for waste system and potable water—making it more advantageous and user friendly, while making the rules more applicable to those who would abuse the system.  Web based system for forms—this won’t affect local offices as much as the Current Use Department. 

There is the on-going maintenance with NEMRC & CAMA and what more can be done to automate the cost table data—populating the tables from Marshall & Swift.

Equalization Study—there is a tremendous amount of data available to Listers—PV&R just need to know how Listers want it formatted.  It would be good if VALA did an analysis on what is wanted and needed.

District Advisors—cy Bailey from Ed Clodfelter’s company will be replacing Nancy Merrill.

Renewable Energy Study—how to assess renewable energy projects.  Legislature is looking at how difficult it would be to come up with a model for consistent assessment.

SPEED program—SPEED stands for Sustainably Priced Energy Development program. (Shouldn’t it be SPED program?)  Goal is to promote the development of in-state energy sources which use renewable fuels with an additional goal of generating 20% of Vermont’s load with SPEED resources by 2017.  The comment was made that there is no way these alternative energy sources would be cost effective without grants, subsidies, tax credits, etc.

Other notes of interest—Green Mountain Power is looking at 50-60 new sites for wind power; there is a study being done on net metering; conservation easements are being looked at in Senate Finance; another study committee looking at the lack of uniformity in valuation of land across towns.  Listers are accused of putting too high an assessment on conserved land.  There is a study on sales—before and after the encumbrance and the effect of an easement on value.

Also the Ways and Means Committee is looking at the viability of the State billing and collecting the state education taxes.  Question was raised as to how this would be paid for. The state will never get it done cheaper than by how it is done now—by the towns.

Martha Newton—testing a new version of APEX—this one is more visual and more user friendly and will be tested before release by PV&R.  APEX will be sending out updated versions and there will be a printable version.  There is a $195 annual fee, but no extra charge for upgrades.

Tom Vickery—Current Use—VALA is helping the Coalition, looking at tiering, penalties, etc.  VALA is part of a sub-committee looking at the future; something will be done this legislative session.  Each group in the Coalition has different agendas but are coming to an understanding with lots of give and take from all sides.

Education Committee—John Vickery is looking for ideas for the November TOEC meeting.

Record Retention—Katie Sherman is no longer in that department.  Looks like VALA will have to make the first move.

Condo’s Committee—Ed Clodfelter said the condo part of CAMA works “slick”.

IAAO conference will be held September 18^th – 27^th.  Ed encouraged Listers to become members of the IAAO.

Newsletter/Website—Penny Allyn said that the person working on the website is doing so on their own time, so it hasn’t gotten up and running as quickly as she had hoped.

Annual Meeting will be held September 23, 2011 at Conant 102 at Vermont Tech.  A short bio of the speakers will be going out soon.

Meeting adjourned at 12:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, 

Carol Hammond, Secretary

Financials and Attendence