32 V.S.A. § 3831 — College, university, or fraternity property

(a) Any real property acquired after April 1, 1941, by any college, university, or fraternity
such as would be exempt from taxation under the provisions of section 3802 of this title shall be set to such institution in the grand list of the town or city in which such
real property is located at the value fixed in the appraisal next preceding the date
of acquisition of such property and taxed on such valuation. However, the voters of
any town or city may at any legal meeting thereof vote to exempt such property from
taxation, either in whole or in part. Except as provided under subsection (c) of
this section, the value fixed on such property at such appraisal shall not be increased
so long as the property is owned and used by such institution for other than commercial
and investment purposes, whether or not improvements are made thereon.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall not exempt from county, town,
or school taxes lands owned by a college and leased “as long as wood grows and water
runs,” securing to the lessees the right of preemption, unless such lands were chartered
as sequestered for the benefit of the college or became the property of the college
prior to the organization of the town in which they lie.
(c) In the event of a general reappraisal of all property in the municipality completed
after 1982, the appraisal value of property subject to subsection (a) of this section
shall first be changed to an amount that yields a tax liability (computed with reference
to the tax rate applicable to the first tax year based on the reappraisal) equal to
the tax liability for such property for the tax year immediately preceding the reappraisal,
provided that in the event the tax liability imposed on the majority of all taxable
properties in the municipality increases in the first tax year based on the reappraisal,
then any appraisal value of property subject to subsection (a) of this section shall
be further changed to an amount that yields the tax liability computed above adjusted
by the average percentage increase or decrease in the tax liability of all taxable
properties in the municipality.
(d) As used in this section, the term “fraternity” shall also mean “sorority.” (Amended 1957, No. 219, § 2, eff. July 1, 1961; 1987, No. 215 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 27, 1988.)