Vermont Tax Sale Surplus: No Statute, but the Money Is Still Yours
Vermont is the state where the statute is silent and the practice isn't. Nothing in the tax sale chapter tells a town what to do with a winning bid above the taxes. But the manual the Vermont League of Cities and Towns gives every collector of delinquent taxes is clear that the money belongs to the former owner — so in Vermont the first step is a question to the town, not a court filing.
How Vermont's tax sale works
Under 32 V.S.A. Chapter 133, the town tax collector sells the property itself — not a lien certificate — at public auction. The former owner keeps a 1-year redemption period, redeeming at 1% interest per month on the buyer's price. If not redeemed, the collector executes a deed to the buyer.
The core problem, confirmed by Vermont's own Supreme Court
Vermont's tax sale statutes simply don't address what happens to sale proceeds above the tax debt during the redemption period. This isn't our interpretation — it's the Vermont Supreme Court's own language in Ran-Mar, Inc. v. Town of Berlin, 2006 VT 117: "Vermont's taxing statutes make no provision for the disposition of the surplus proceeds during redemption."
What towns are told to do with the surplus
The League's Delinquent Tax Collection Manual (revised 2023), citing Ran-Mar, tells collectors that once the town has been paid the taxes, interest, fees and costs, any excess from the purchase price can either be given to the delinquent taxpayer or placed in an escrow account for the one-year redemption period. It is explicit that the economic benefit of the excess proceeds must go to the delinquent taxpayer, who has no right to the funds until the property is redeemed or a tax deed is conveyed. If the owner doesn't redeem, the escrowed money must be released to them when the year is over; if they do redeem, it reduces what they have to pay. The manual also asks towns not to release it early without the consent of any mortgagee.
The one narrow precedent that exists
Bogie v. Town of Barnet (1970) held that when the town itself is the sole bidder at a tax sale — which happens often in small Vermont towns — and later resells the property at a profit, that profit belongs to the former owner under the Vermont Constitution's takings clause. But that case doesn't clearly cover the more common scenario: a private investor buying the property at the original tax sale itself. If your situation involves a private buyer rather than the town, Bogie doesn't obviously apply, and there's no administrative form or claim process to fall back on — recovering anything would likely mean legal action citing Bogie and the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Tyler v. Hennepin County, not a routine county filing.
What Vermont still hasn't legislated
The Vermont Legislature's own 2024 Act 106 working group report studied exactly this post-Tyler problem and recommended the legislature develop a formal process. As of this writing, that hasn't happened — the working group's own report describes disagreement between Vermont Legal Aid (which favored a Maine-style broker-sale model) and municipalities (which pushed back). We checked for follow-up 2025/2026 legislation and found none that closes the gap.
What this means if you're owed money in Vermont
If a private bidder bought the property for more than the taxes, ask the town's collector of delinquent taxes or treasurer where the excess went: under the League's guidance it was either paid to you or is sitting in escrow until the redemption year ends. If the town was the sole bidder and later profited on resale, Bogie gives you a real, citable legal basis to pursue that profit — but you'll likely need an attorney, not a claim form. Where the statute is silent and a town disputes what it owes, raise it with a Vermont attorney or Vermont Legal Aid.
Looking for a list? Our directory doesn't have an official Vermont county list yet, so for now ask the office that ran the sale. The counties that do publish one are in our directory of official surplus funds lists.
This article is general information, not financial or legal advice — and Vermont's situation genuinely requires legal counsel given the lack of a statutory process. See our broader guide on surplus funds after a tax sale and the Vermont state page for sale mechanics.