Property Taxes

Photo ©2022 Ed Dooley

  • Property Tax Payments: Tax bills are mailed out once a year usually by September 1.
  • Taxpayers may pay the bill in full upon receipt, or in two installments: November 1st and May 1st.
  • Taxes are considered past due if the payment on the first installment is not made on or before November 1st. Past due taxes are subject to 1% interest each month for the first three months they are unpaid, and 1.5% interest for each month after that. 
    • A United States Postal Service postmark of November 1 or earlier is accepted as on-time payment. Payments received in the official drop box when Town Hall opens at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 2, will also be considered on time.

  • Taxes are considered delinquent if not paid in full by May 1, 2022. Delinquent taxes are subject to an 8% penalty as of May 2. 
    • A United States Postal Service postmark of May 1 or earlier is accepted as on-time payment. Payments received in the official drop box when Town Hall opens at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 2, will also be considered on time.

    • Panton's delinquent tax collector is Barb Fleming. If you are having difficulties with your tax payments, please contact Barb and she will work with you on a payment plan. She may be reached by telephone at (802) 475-2346.
Basics

Every year, each municipality in Vermont creates an annual Grand List. The Grand List contains each property (called a parcel) in the municipality and assigns the parcel a value. That value is multiplied by the tax rates to determine the taxes owed to the state and town. The "cut-off" for the Grand List is April 1, which means the assessed value--and the owner of record--for the following tax year is as of April 1.
 
For example, Mickey Mouse sold his dairy farm to Donald Duck on May 1, 2022. The tax bill for the 22-23 tax year will be mailed around September 1 to Mickey Mouse at the mailing address Micky had for his tax bill. Ideally, the realtors and attorneys who executed the sale informed both parties of the property tax liability and settled the responsibility for the amounts due at the time of sale. It is the responsibility of the former owner, in this case Mickey Mouse, to forward the tax bill to the new owner, Donald Duck. Because Panton has fewer than 350 parcels, as a courtesy, the Clerk and Assistant Clerk try to send the bill to the new owner, but this is not guaranteed. 
 
For those who escrow taxes through their mortgage lender, it is the responsibility of the owner/borrower to provide their tax bill to their lender. The Town does not send tax bills to lenders.

Tax Rates

The bulk of a Panton property tax bill supports the schools in the Addison Northwest School District (ANWSD.) This is known as the education tax rate. If you declare your Panton property as your homestead, your tax rate is slightly higher than if you do not declare homestead. 
 
Homestead Declarations are filed through the State of Vermont. To learn about homestead declarations, visit https://tax.vermont.gov/property-owners/homestead-declaration.
 
You must file a Homestead Declaration annually by the April filing deadline. If you file after April 15, the Town may assess one of the following penalties:
Up to a 3% penalty if the nonhomestead (formerly "nonresidential") rate is higher than the homestead education property rate,
Up to 8% if the nonhomestead rate is lower than the homestead education property tax rate.

  • The 2023 municipal tax rate for Panton is 0.6869.
  • The 2023 Homestead Tax Rate for Panton is 1.6984.
  • The 2023 Non-Homestead Tax Rate for Panton is 1.5330.