|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
by Sam Douglass
Information for In Committee news reports are sourced from GoldenDomeVt.com and the General Assembly website. Generative AI has not been used in the writing of this story.
With an estimated 12 percent increase to property tax rates looming and school budget votes knocking on our doors, a Vermont House committee briefly discussed a bill to freeze property taxes.
On Friday last week, the Vermont House Committee on Ways and Means received an introduction of a bill that aims to freeze property tax rates for the next three years. H.774, introduced in the committee by Representative Gina Galfetti (R-Washington Orange), was presented as a “straightforward bill” to be used as a blank slate for the committee to build out policies for property tax relief. However, the response from the committee did not signal optimism for the bill’s future.
“The idea is for it to go through the committee process and figure out a way to make it the best bill that it could be. That was the intent of the bill, and hopefully you guys will be able to take some testimony on it and come up with something that can deliver tax relief this year for Vermonters, like we were sent here to do,” said Galfetti. By using her bill as a starting point, she envisions that the committee could expand the language to cover specific demographics or areas in tax reform that need targeted property tax relief.
The bill had been a work-in-progress since it was initially announced in January, which arrived on the heels of the announcement of a nearly 12 percent increase in property taxes statewide in 2026. In her announcement, Galfetti explained that the concept behind the bill came from her disillusionment over what she viewed as a refusal to act by the Act 73 education map committee during the summer break.
“Governor Scott proposed a sweeping education reform bill, and many of us went out on a limb to give it a shot. What has happened thus far is that the special committee comprised [sic] of a mix of legislators and non-legislators that was tasked with drawing new districts over the summer refused to do their assigned task, with Democrat members that are in the majority refusing to do it,” said Galfetti in her announcement.
When presenting her bill on Friday in Ways and Means, Galfetti received pushback from committee members over its potential pitfalls. When asked about the pushback she received, she said her reception in the committee was “not well at all” and described it as “confrontational” and dismissive about the need to make cuts to spending.
The Chair of Ways and Means, Representative Emily Kornheiser (D-Windham 7), was dubious about the bill and expressed some of her concerns to the committee of how the bill could actuallyhurt Vermonters more than current property tax pressure. “…what happens when we freeze property tax rates and then values are different all over the state isn’t a reduction in spending. It’s just an increase in people’s bills in a way that’s even less fair than what might be happening right now.”
A recent memo from the non-partisan Joint Fiscal Office to the Speaker of the House, Rep. Jill Krowinski, detailed the cost to curtail the tax rate of our education system over the next three years. For fiscal years, 2027, 2028, and 2029, JFO estimates it will cost approximately $480 million to keep property tax rate growth at five percent each year. It’s unclear whether this memo was issued as a result of Galfetti’s bill.
When asked about this estimate from JFO, Galfetti wasn’t concerned. “We’re already buying down the rates, which obviously isn’t a solution, but it gives taxpayers a break while we make changes to how we’re funding education.”
In her bill, overages in funding would ideally be drawn directly from the general fund, which she admits would likely require some significant cuts. “My idea is painful,” said Galfetti regarding the cuts. “but if we can’t fix Ed spending, then it’s our job to make cuts so this growth doesn’t fall on taxpayers. If taxpayers are making hard choices then we [legislators] should be too”
Governor Phil Scott’s FY2027 budget recommendation for the overall state budget totals $9.4 billion and demonstrates an increase of roughly 4.5 percent over his FY2026 recommendation.
According to the tax department, Vermont now leads the nation in education spending. In the annual “December 1” letter to the legislature that announced the expected 2026 rate increase, Tax Department Commissioner William Shouldice explained the impact that our tax policies may have on Vermonters. “If we allow this landscape to persist, we cannot seriously expect young and growing families to buy homes and settle in Vermont; local voters to approve budgets; or seniors on fixed incomes to retire comfortably in Vermont,” said Shouldice.
Ahead of Tuesday’s school budget votes, Governor Phil Scott has indicated that he plans to vote against his local district school budget and many Vermonters across social media are alarmed about rates rising once again.
Discover more from Vermont Daily Chronicle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Legislation, Taxes
A lot of the population has to change the way they live to be able to afford to live in Vermont. But, the powers that be, can’t get their heads out of their ****** to figure out how to live within certain parameters. It would be nice to vote in those that might do something, but that will never happen until the libs get hurt personally and in their wallet.
Note to the public, according to are legislators there is no waste whatsoever in government spending!
For example, there is no grant funding that is vitally essential to Vermont government!
There are no bike paths that could possibly even be delayed! The bike path is a critical infrastructure bill!
There are no non profits that need funding, like planned parenthood.
We must at all costs spend as our lobbyists tell us!
We must use taxpayer and school funding to build our little pet projects of down town spending, sidewalk building and luxury apt building for the homeless!
More tiff!!!!!
More CHIPS!!!!!!!L
We must fund free places to stay at nice hotels for our drug dealers!!!!!!!!!
No, see we need more of your money!
Those points, unfortunately, are definitely some of the reasons we are in this financial mess. We could add to that list also. Thank you Gina for your attempt.
An even easier solution, president Trump should come out and say Montpelier needs to double the tax burden for its citizens!!!!!!!
Then of course we’d get massive cuts! It’s the only way it will happen, Lord please grant us this favor.
Then he could declare that Vermonters should follow satan and bring satan into our schools! That everybody should start doing drugs at birth. That everybody should start stealing and killing each other. That sex is like making a sandwich and is free for everyone to demand from anyone at any time! That we should all hate our neighbors! That everybody should follow the advice of big pharma!
Why didn’t I think of this earlier? Easy solution for all of Vermonts problems!
Can we put a freeze on legislature pay until they stop blowing our money? Asking for a friend. Things will never change until new people are put in. They don’t care about, or for any of us.
How about electing Republican Senate women?
Why would any of them be interested in actually making cuts to facilitate holding tax rate increases at zero??? They clearly think we (taxpayers/constituents) have endless resources at their disposal. Also, I firmly believe that the majority party still smarting from their losses that killed their veto proof majority is still in denial and are deliberately stalling in hopes of regaining their super majority in November. Get out of your chairs Vermonters, and LET’S PROVE THEM WRONG IN NOVEMBER!!! And send yet even more of them packing!
Three cheers for Galfetti! Proud to say she’s my representative.
And you have every right to be proud of her ! I wish we had 149 more like her !
Interestingly enough, Randolph has HIGHER property tax rates for RESIDENTS than the NONRESIDENTIAL rate.?? GO figure. I was told the Dept of Ed was responsible for signing off on that in July. It’s “supposed to” bring in more $$ for education to make up for the already ripoff that we pay for. No accountability anywhere anymore…. I’m all for a 3 year wait for figuring out the REAL education costs besides the ‘fluff’ from legislators who really have NO clue regardless of what committee they create!
There needs to be an incentive for “lawmakers” to make cuts, and consequences for those who don’t understand, or acknowledge that their spending on non essential, feel good issues like green initiative projects should be set aside until we can afford new, big projects like that. Spending on education ? Even our legislators can’t deny that we are paying more for lower quality results, for fewer students. If this formula was proposed in the business world, all those that promote this would be fired ! Somehow we need to ditch the VNEA for a starter . I wonder if anybody has ever done a deep clens on the NEA ? Na, everybodies afraid of them ! Does the SOV subsidize NPR/PBS, or other charities, and non profits ? Get out of them ! The Governor should tell his cabinet that he wants suggestions from everybody in his cabinet where/how they can cut 5% (?) from their budget. And alright, here we go, I’ve said it before . The very first thing that is passed out of the legislature every year should be a budget ! They, like us, should set a budget based on the previous year’s budget, plus a COLA, also based on the previous years, and stick to it ! That is what I have to do . Why should our lawmakers be able to spend their irresponsible little hearts out, and then come back to us for a raise ? That is what they are allowed to do now ! Change it !
Gina Galfetti, the house representative from So. Barre was at Town Meeting today in Williamstown. ( there are around 500 Williamstown residents that got gerrymandered and those 500 residents got redistricted to South Barre by the democrats because they didn’t like our 2nd republican house representative we had at that time, Samantha Lefebvre so they got rid of her!!)
I asked Gina about the three year freeze on property taxes and she just explained to the group how it was not received well by the democrats and how they were assigned projects during last summer but they didn’t do a thing. It’s quite evident that the democrats don’t want to solve the problems of affordability. The democrats want the middle class, retirees out of Vermont. They want your house and for retired people to go find a less expensive state to live and retire in.
I felt sorry for Gina. She is spitting into the wind—and nothing is going to happen until the majority of both the house and senate are republicans and not progressive democrats!!! If you want change, if you want affordability again in Vermont—in November, and every election going forward—please people vote the democrats out of every office they are running for in Vermont-for Vermont’s future.
You are absolutely spot on – it’s obvious, especially in the northern counties, that they want to turn the entire area into a conserved zone, and the few who will stay to work in the service industry will have to move into a tiny apartment in some City center.