Court Opinion

ID: 9766449
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:48:44.652551+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:22.742508
License: Public Domain

Allen, C J.,
dissenting. I dissent. The statute clearly and unambiguously requires that the taxpayer build a house on the land before the land is sold in order to be qualified for the tax exemption. Where the meaning of the statute is plain on its face, the legislative intent will be derived from the statute, and the statute will be enforced according to its terms. See Burlington Elec. Dep’t v. Department of Taxes, 154 Vt. 332, 335-36, 576 A.2d 450, 452 (1990). The majority now interprets this statute to mean that the taxpayer will be exempt provided some other person builds a house on the land after its sale. The majority justifies this interpretation by claiming that the plain meaning of the statute does not reveal the legislative intent. It cannot seriously be said that there is any doubt about what the Legislature intended — the statute unambiguously requires that taxpayer build a house on the land prior to the transfer. The majority’s statutory destruction cannot be justified under the guise of statutory construction.
The majority creates further confusion for the department and taxpayers by holding that there is substantial compliance if, after the sale, the home is “occupied by the purchaser as a principal residence within a reasonable time thereafter.” While the opinion earlier states that the purchasers occupied the home “shortly after the transfer,” the only evidence in the record on this issue was that the home was installed “soon” after it was *583purchased and that the purchaser was to move into it before it was finished. A statute which requires a house to be built before sale is now held to be complied with if the house is built “soon” after the sale.
I would reverse.