Tuesday marks one week before town meeting day in Vermont. Among the key ballot items are school budgets, and according to the Agency of Education, spending appears to be less than predicted. According to a memo from last week, education spending is shaping up to be $36 million less than what was predicted in the Dec 1 letter. “That’s certainly a help to property taxpayers,” Sen. Scott Beck (R St. Johnsbury) said. “We’ll see town meeting day. If there’s a further reduction or maybe an increase, we don’t really know.”Even after budgets pass, there are still unknowns: The Dec. 1 letter made a predicted increase of 12% in property taxes. To counter that, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has pitched a plan to buy down the tax rate by $105 million. The Scott administration identified $75 million in unallocated funds in the budget adjustment. That passed last month, meaning those funds have been transferred over to the budget bill, where another $30 million was identified.The state budget and property tax yields (state revenue) won’t be determined until the end of the session. This means Vermont taxpayers don’t know exactly what their property tax bill will be on Town Meeting Day. School districts like Burlington’s have made homestead property tax predictions about whether a buydown happens or not. If it were to happen, property taxes would be less than 5%. However, if there is no buydown, the district predicts a nearly 9% increase. Rep. Herb Olson (D- Starksboro) said not having yield information makes the job of school boards much more difficult. He is the lead sponsor of a bill that would require a yield bill to be passed before Town Meeting Day in future years. “Without knowing what the yield is, it’s really hard to build a budget that’s going to be responsive not only to educational needs but also to taxpayer needs,” he said. The larger legislative pressure is to consolidate Vermont schools in order to get to one statewide foundation formula under Act 73. Under the current system, school boards say they’re delivering for Vermonters. “School boards have definitely been working very hard to present budgets that, that taxpayers will support and that also provide a high-quality education to their students,” Executive Director of the Vermont School Boards Association Susan Ceglowski said. For those who don’t know the school budget that will appear on their ballot, Ceglowski said checking your district’s website is the best way to find that information. Town meeting day is next Tuesday, March 3.
Tuesday marks one week before town meeting day in Vermont. Among the key ballot items are school budgets, and according to the Agency of Education, spending appears to be less than predicted.
According to a memo from last week, education spending is shaping up to be $36 million less than what was predicted in the Dec 1 letter.
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“That’s certainly a help to property taxpayers,” Sen. Scott Beck (R St. Johnsbury) said. “We’ll see town meeting day. If there’s a further reduction or maybe an increase, we don’t really know.”
Even after budgets pass, there are still unknowns: The Dec. 1 letter made a predicted increase of 12% in property taxes. To counter that, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has pitched a plan to buy down the tax rate by $105 million.
The Scott administration identified $75 million in unallocated funds in the budget adjustment. That passed last month, meaning those funds have been transferred over to the budget bill, where another $30 million was identified.
The state budget and property tax yields (state revenue) won’t be determined until the end of the session. This means Vermont taxpayers don’t know exactly what their property tax bill will be on Town Meeting Day.
School districts like Burlington’s have made homestead property tax predictions about whether a buydown happens or not. If it were to happen, property taxes would be less than 5%. However, if there is no buydown, the district predicts a nearly 9% increase.
Rep. Herb Olson (D- Starksboro) said not having yield information makes the job of school boards much more difficult. He is the lead sponsor of a bill that would require a yield bill to be passed before Town Meeting Day in future years.
“Without knowing what the yield is, it’s really hard to build a budget that’s going to be responsive not only to educational needs but also to taxpayer needs,” he said.
The larger legislative pressure is to consolidate Vermont schools in order to get to one statewide foundation formula under Act 73. Under the current system, school boards say they’re delivering for Vermonters.
“School boards have definitely been working very hard to present budgets that, that taxpayers will support and that also provide a high-quality education to their students,” Executive Director of the Vermont School Boards Association Susan Ceglowski said.
For those who don’t know the school budget that will appear on their ballot, Ceglowski said checking your district’s website is the best way to find that information.
Town meeting day is next Tuesday, March 3.
