by Guy Page
Add Vermont House Education Committee Chair Pete Conlon (D-Cornwall) to the list of elected officials and public figures unsure how they will vote on their local school budget tomorrow.
Gov. Phil Scott told the press last week he is leaning towards voting down his local budget in Berlin, which would add about $1500 to the taxes on his $349,000 home. Earlier, former Democratic Gov. Howard Dean’s Finance Commissioner, Tom Pelham, wrote an op-ed saying it’s okay to vote down the school budget this year. The centrist advocacy group Campaign for Vermont echoed that theme.
When asked by VDC at a press conference how he would vote on his local budget, Conlon – a reporter/editor for the Addison Independent for 15 years – said, “to be very honest, I don’t know….I think that school districts and school boards have been very responsible, and I need to weigh that against the amount that our taxes will be going up.”
And barring some kind of voter revolution, the statewide property tax will be going up by about 20%.
Across Vermont, school districts are facing 20% budget increases (more in some towns, less in others). A law hurriedly passed last month to remove local spending incentives in the state education funding formula and give school boards time to rework and rewarn their budgets did not result in quick downsizing of proposed local school budgets.
Most school districts, then – including Conlon’s – will ask Town Meeting voters to approve spending that will result in property taxes rising by about 20% statewide. Aware of the voters’ concern, House leaders at the press conference assured voters the House is aware of school spending concerns and will be working very, very hard to address them when it returns next week.
Ways and Means Committee Chair Emilie Kornheiser said she feels like she has spoken with every legislator about every school funding alternative option raised by every constituent. Part of the problem, she says, is that simple solutions are unfair – that is, not equitable to lower-income school districts. “Simple is unfair” but “complex is fair,” she said.
The rejiggered education funding formula isn’t the only cause for the tax increase. Inflation, particularly in salaries and health insurance; the $30 million Universal School Lunch program approved last year; and loss of pandemic-era federal funding invested in ongoing problems and not one-time needs all have contributed.
Budgets voted down Tuesday will be revisited by school boards and warned for another vote. After July 1, school districts may borrow up to 87% of the current school budget to continue operating until voters approve a new budget.
Secretary of State to capture Prez primary, some Town Meeting results – Unofficial Presidential Primary results are reported to the Secretary of State by Vermont cities and towns after polls close on the evening of Tuesday, March 5th, and posted on the Secretary of State’s website. Results will be unofficial until the Canvassing Committee meets to certify the results on March 12th.
Cities and towns are not required to report the results of their local, Town Meeting Day elections to the Vermont Secretary of State on March 5th, so for local results it is best to check with the relevant city or town.
Non-binding Town Meeting resolution for Gaza ceasefire – the Journal-Opinion reports that town meeting voters in Bradford and Thetford approved nonbinding resolutions on Saturday calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and prohibiting future American arms sales to Israel.
The item was not warned in either town and came up under ‘other business’ articles on the town meeting warning.
In Thetford, the resolution was approved in a voice vote, although speakers expressed both support for and opposition to the resolution.
“What else would you call it but a massacre,” said Duncan Nichols in introducing the resolution at the end of the town meeting. He said communities across the country were taking up similar measures.
Bill Huff said Israeli military units are at war with Hamas and not the Palestinian people.
“Hamas is committed to the extermination of the Jewish state,” he said.
The nonbinding resolution directs town officials to communicate the result to the White House.