By Guy Page
Governor Phil Scott plans to use one-time money within the Budget Adjustment Act (BAA) to buy down property taxes, calling the effort “just step one” toward necessary long-term reform, he said at a December 17 press conference.
The proposal addresses an estimated $200 million increase in the education fund, which could result in an average property tax increase of about 12%.
The BAA is a mid-year adjustment to the current year budget, passed by legislation early in the next session to cover needs that emerged after the passage of the budget this spring.
The Governor’s plan earmarks approximately $75 million from the BAA—money that was available after meeting other obligations—to be fenced off and reserved for providing tax relief.
Governor Scott emphasized that this move is purely temporary and conditional on further structural change, stating that legislators must understand the nature of the plan.
“It really is a stop gap measure,” Governor Scott said, acknowledging the temporary nature of using one-time funds to address systemic issues.
The administration stressed that sustained tax relief requires comprehensive education transformation, noting that the current system “isn’t efficient” and is using up money that should be going to students.
Act 73, passed by the Legislature last year and signed by Gov. Scott, requires an appointed task force to draw a map of ‘super school districts’ that, if approved, would significantly reduce costs, Scott said. However the task force declined, and instead proposed keeping current supervisory unions but instead sharing costs among them.
Neither plan addresses reducing the cost of in-school instruction, and instead focuses more on administrative reductions.
The Governor cautioned local districts against viewing the state aid as a solution without local action.
Governor Scott further elaborated on the need for local accountability: “We don’t want school boards to just assume that the legislature and and the executive branch are going to come together, the governor’s going to come together and bail them out, so to speak”.