Justia Government & Administrative Law Opinion Summaries

Taxpayers are owners and operators of Travia's Inc., a small bar and grill. The company is organized as a S-corporation. They appealed the Department of Taxes' (DOT) assessment of meals tax and alcoholic beverage tax for the audit years 2006, 2007, and 2008, and corporate income and personal income tax for the audit years 2005, 2006, and 2007.  Following a hearing, the Commissioner of Taxes affirmed the Department's assessments. Taxpayers appealed the Commissioner's determination to the civil division, which affirmed. After its review, the Supreme Court concluded that taxpayers did not meet their burden of demonstrating the assessments were incorrect, and therefore upheld the Commissioner's determination. View "Travia's Inc., and Mellion" on Justia Law

Plaintiff Adam Cate sued the City of Burlington for breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) claiming that the City disciplined him for actions and in a manner not authorized by the City's personnel manual. The trial court granted the City's motion for summary judgment, finding the manual unambiguously allowed the City to place plaintiff on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into unacceptable behavior. The court also concluded that plaintiff failed to prove his claim for IIED. Plaintiff argued on appeal that the trial court misconstrued the City's personnel manual, that issues of fact still remained, and there was sufficient evidence of outrageous conduct. Upon review, the Supreme Court disagreed with plaintiff's claims of error and affirmed the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the City. View "Cate v. City of Burlington" on Justia Law

Defendant City of Burlington Retirement System appealed a superior court judgment that reversed its decision to terminate the disability retirement of plaintiff, a former City firefighter. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded the record fully supported the superior court's conclusion that there was no reasonable basis for the Board's decision to terminate plaintiff's disability retirement. View "Preston v. Burlington City Reitrement System" on Justia Law

In consolidated cases, the common issue centered on whether Vermont laws allowed the Town of Colchester to consider certain intangible factors in assessing seasonal lakefront camps located on leased land. The Supreme Court held that the Town was not precluded from considering such factors in assessing properties. View "Lesage v. Town of Colchester" on Justia Law

Vanderminden, a Family Limited Partnership, owned a contiguous piece of property in the adjoining towns of Poultney and Wells. The Wells portion was at issue in this case: the state appraiser affirmed the Town's valuation of the property. On appeal, the partnership argued that the appraiser failed to supply a sufficient explanation for its decision to accept the Town's valuation; in assessing the Wells and Poultney properties as a single parcel then valuing the Wells portion as a seasonal dwelling; and for not accepting the partnership's evidence that the Wells portion was assessed above fair market value of the entire parcel. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that the valuation of a single property in more than one town includes both the fair market value of the entire parcel, and of the portion in the town involved in the appeal. Because the partnership presented evidence to demonstrate that the Wells portion's valuation exceeded the fair market value of the entire parcel, Wells' appraisal should have been reduced accordingly. Furthermore, the state appraiser should have given its reason for the high valuation. Accordingly, the Court remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Vanderminden, A Family LTD Partnership v. Town of Wells" on Justia Law

Defendants Timothy Persons and the Trust A of Timothy Persons appealed an Environmental Division decision holding that certain excavation work performed on their property violated the state Wetlands Protection and Water Resources Management laws and the state Wetlands Rules. Among other things, defendants contended they were not given adequate notice that portions of the lands in question contained a protected wetland, and therefore, should not have been subjected to fines. The Supreme Court found no merit to defendants' contentions, and affirmed the Environmental Division. View "Agency of Natural Resources v. Persons" on Justia Law

The Town of Vernon appealed a superior court decision that reversed its decision to fire police chief Kevin Turnley. The Selectboard determined that the chief made inaccurate statements at public meetings when asked about his knowledge of a certain criminal defendant's (a sex-offender) residence in town and why he didn't tell the community. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court concluded that Selectboard failed to make the necessary findings on record to support the chief's firing, so the Court affirmed the superior court's decision. View "Turnley v. Town of Vernon" on Justia Law

The Town of Hartford and Marc and Susan Wood have been involved in a property dispute for over a decade. At issue: the construction of a large concrete retaining wall along the Woods property. They appealed the latest superior court decision in the matter. In 1999, the Town approved the Woods' application for a zoning permit to construct the wall. In early 2000, Woods began stockpiling recycled concrete slab sections in order to construct it. The Town served Woods a Notice of Violation (NOV) and filed an enforcement action, arguing that the concrete was not what was specified in the zoning permit. A court determined that Woods failed to meet the specifications for the permit. Woods appealed, and thus began the litigation that ultimately wound up before the Supreme Court in this case. In 2011, the superior court concluded that Woods still had not adhered to the permit's specifications. Woods raised thirteen claims of error on appeal, mostly challenging the sufficiency of evidence and errors in interpretation of the zoning code. Finding no error in the superior court's 2011 decision, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "In re Wood NOV, Town of Hartford v. Wood" on Justia Law

The Town of Fairfax cited homeowner Leon Beliveau for changing the use of his property from a single-family dwelling to a rooming-and-boarding house without obtaining the necessary zoning permits. Beliveau argued on appeal that the trial court erred in finding his property was used as a boarding house, and that the Town's zoning laws were unconstitutionally vague. Finding no error in the trial court's view of Beliveau's property, and that the town's zoning laws were not unconstitutionally vague, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "In re Beliveau NOV, Town of Fairfax v. Beliveau" on Justia Law

"J.H." appealed an adjudication that she was a child in need of care and supervision (CHINS) for being "habitually and without justification truant from compulsory school attendance." J.H. contended: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the findings; and (2) the court improperly shifted the burden of proof on the question of whether she was habitually truant "without justification." The only witness was a Bennington County deputy sheriff who testified that he served as the County's truancy officer. The officer testified that he ended up transporting J.H. to school on two subsequent days in January. On the third occasion, the officer served a "truancy notice," the purpose of which was to warn a parent or guardian that a truancy case could be brought if their child is continually absent. The officer went to the home twice more in January (the fourth and fifth visits that month) but there was no response from anyone at the residence. At the conclusion of the officer's testimony, J.H.'s counsel moved to dismiss the petition, asserting that the evidence was insufficient to establish that J.H. was habitually truant. The trial court denied the motion, finding that five truancy reports within "a matter of weeks . . . meet[s] the definition of being habitually not at school."  The court also observed it had "no evidence . . . of justification for [J.H.] not being in school." Upon review, the Supreme Court agreed that the record evidence was fundamentally insufficient to establish that J.H. was truant on the days alleged. "Inasmuch as the evidence here was plainly insufficient under [33 V.S.A. 5102(3)(D)], we are compelled to conclude that the adjudication of CHINS based on truancy must be reversed." View "In re J. H." on Justia Law