Latest Case This Week: Zlotoff Foundation, Inc. v. Town of South Hero (Vt.)

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Zlotoff Foundation, Inc. v. Town of South Hero

Court: Vermont Supreme Court

Citation: 2020 VT 25

Opinion Date: March 20, 2020

Judge: Paul L. Reiber

Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law, Non-Profit Corporations, Tax Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use

At issue in this case was the tax status of a 9.9-acre parcel of land containing an 11,500-square-foot garage that was owned and used by Zlotoff Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit charitable organization, for the purpose of storing and maintaining a collection of classic automobiles that it displayed at its nearby museum. The trial court ruled that the garage and the land were tax-exempt because they were used for a public purpose. However, it denied the Foundation’s request for a refund of property taxes paid to the Town of South Hero from 2016 to 2018 because the Foundation did not obtain a certificate of authority allowing it to transact business in Vermont until 2019. The Foundation and the Town both appealed. Finding no reversible error, the Vermont Supreme Court affirmed judgment.