By Guy Page
Despite a larger-than-usual number of absent legislators, the Vermont House yesterday gave preliminary approval to H.887, the proposed public education funding ‘fix’ that would reduce the coming fiscal year’s proposed statewide homestead property tax from 20% to 15%.
H.887 emerged last week from the House Ways & Means Committee, where it was deemed necessary because 30 school districts rejected their budgets at Town Meeting and 13 have since rejected revised budgets. The bill is scheduled for a final House vote today, and then will proceed to the Senate. It is unknown whether it will clear the Senate before next week’s April 30 Super Tuesday of 11 school districts voting for a revised budget.
The tsunami of No votes happened after voters realized they were being asked to approve an unprecedented statewide property tax increase caused by inflation, increases in staff pay and health benefits, the loss of one-time federal pandemic-era funding, and a funding formula that critics say rewards school districts for loading up on spending.
One veteran lawmaker last week called voters’ response a “tax revolt.”
“Taxpayer revolt. An old fashioned revolt,” Rep. Carolyn Branagan (R-Georgia/Fairfax, both Double No towns) said last Thursday after voting against H.887 in the Ways & Means committee. “And we’re due for it. I mean, this has gone on for a long time. The property taxes have been too high.”
Today, Gov. Phil Scott was asked if we’re in the midst of a tax revolt. “Yeah, I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this in some time,” he said. “It was too big a pill to swallow. People can relate to an increase in their property taxes when they’re just be scraping now. This was foreseeable in some respects, this cliff. It hasn’t fixed itself. The taxpayers are voicing their displeasure.”
Vermont has no specific advocacy group opposing taxation. However, on Thursday, a diverse coalition of Vermonters opposed to tax increases and other legislative initiatives plans to gather in the State House.
“Vermont Values Under ATAX” event will be a “non-partisan show of opposition to a variety of bills that are taxing to all Vermonters.” The organizers, the Vermont Traditions Coalition, promised “a protest/rally that cannot be ignored by politicians and media.”
The group urged all interested Vermonters to gather in the State House cafeteria and throughout the State House from 9-3 Thursday April 25 to “voice our displeasure with the direction of political leadership forsaking Vermont’s marginalized voices–working Vermonters and our children, those living with the land, our natural communities, and those seeking independence from the taxing and controlling interests currently dominating Vermont politics.”
In addition to the 15% property tax, H887 finds the revenue needed for the estimated $200 million education spending increase by creating two new categories of taxes: a ‘Cloud’ tax on internet services, and a tax on short-term rentals. It also increases the non-homestead (second home, business, apartment house) property tax to 18%.
The four Republicans on Ways & Means at first backed H887, because it promised mid-term and long-term spending reductions. However, those provisions were stripped out of the final draft, and they all voted against it. On the floor, not a single Republican voted Yes. Three Republicans were absent.
The bill proposes a 21-person panel to study education funding reform, but does not recommend or propose spending reductions.
16 legislators were absent from the H.887 roll-call vote, which passed 94-38. The roll call appears below: