by Bill Huff
I appreciate Representative Masland keeping the constituents of Windsor-Orange 2 informed about school funding, however trying to justify an 18.5 % increase in just school funding is simply putting lipstick on a pig (bloated budget). A pig Vermonter’s can no longer afford.
All Vermonters have felt the devastating effects of rampant inflation. Everything is wildly more expensive than it was just a couple years ago. Knowing that Vermonters are already struggling to make ends meet, why would our legislators make affordability worse, far worse than it already is? Rep Masland passed some things off as inevitable and “beyond school board’s control.” For the sake of the average Vermonter, you, Rep Holcombe, and the rest of the legislature, must do better.
In Governor Scott’s State of the State address, he mentioned the demographic challenges Vermont faces including the fact that 14,000 fewer kids under the age of 18 reside here now, than did just a dozen years ago. He added, the 18.5% estimated increase in property tax bills is “after we use a $37 million education fund surplus to buy down rates. In total, this would be a quarter billion-dollar tax increase on Vermonters.” He continued, “The Education Fund is now more than $2.1 billion dollars. With fewer than 83,000 Pre-K through 12 students, we’re spending about $25,000 a year per student, among the very highest in the country. It’s the result of an education infrastructure that is too large for the number it serves, so not enough money is making it to the kids.”
We may not be able to directly control the demographic changes in our young population but we certainly can adjust the infrastructure to meet the diminished school population. And we certainly didn’t have to add universal school meals to the education budget last year. That bill alone added $29 million dollars to provide meals for every child regardless of income. That means while some struggle to put food on their own table, their tax dollars are being spent to feed wealthy people’s kids.
Rep Masland stated the $18.5% ed funding doesn’t even consider local school spending and as of January “there is more need in the Ed Fund than current revenues would cover. The testing in schools for contaminants is just getting ramped up. With State standards set substantially BELOW Federal guidelines, local school spending will skyrocket in coming years as buildings are abandoned and new schools built. Think it won’t happen here? This very thing is costing the South Burlington taxpayers around $200 million.
As bad as the education funding news is, it’s the tip of the iceberg when trying to afford to live in Vermont these days. Not only did Rep Masland and Rep Holcombe both vote for the universal school meals, they voted for an across the board 20% DMV fee increase even though the head of the transportation dept stated we didn’t need it. Both voted for a new payroll tax on employees and employers to fund day care in the state.
What they didn’t explain, is how the Legislature created the problem in the first place (2017 legislation that cut the number of VT day cares in half) and the fact they only partially funded the program last year knowing it would take more money this year. The proposal now, to fully fund the program, is a 9-11% income tax increase! This means those same people that struggle to get by, will be charged a payroll tax and higher income tax rates so that a family of four making approximately $175,000 per year can get a child care subsidy.
But don’t despair, the Democratic supermajority has another proposal to make the rich pay their fair share by adding a 3% surcharge for the top 1% of taxpayers. The top 1% of Vermont taxpayers already pay 48% of all the income tax collected. And congratulations if you make over $154,000 annually. You are part of the top 10% of Vermont taxpayers that pay 98% (figures from VT Tax Dept 2021) of the income tax collected! Not that this proposal would lower the tax bill for any of us, it just raises more money to spend.
Let’s not forget, taxpayers are now going to be on the hook for the $16.5 million EB-5 fraud perpetrated a decade ago. Insurers won’t cover it. And the flood recovery and resiliency bill proposes another $18.5 million to be added to tax bills. The Affordable Clean Heat Act will cost us all millions but nobody can tell us how many millions because the “Rube Goldberg” (Sen. Dick McCormick’s words, not mine) machine that makes this all work is still trying to be built. Hours before the Governor’s speech, the legislature overrode his veto of the new bottle bill that took another 2 million dollars from Vermonter’s pockets.
The Governor also vetoed a bill that would effectively double our legislators pay and benefits at taxpayer’s expense. Apparently, our legislators can’t afford Vermont either? The bill is already back this year. So much for serving the public. Vermonters don’t want, nor can we afford a full-time legislature. There were several efforts last year to shorten the session to save money but the supermajority wouldn’t even consider it.
Rep Masland said Gov Scott had sometimes been unreasonable in asking the legislature to cut spending and “With past as prologue, he’ll also blame the legislature for not doing his bidding.” I wonder who Jim thinks is responsible for the spending if not the legislature? I agree with Governor Scott, Vermont is rapidly becoming unaffordable for even the middle class. More spending and more subsidies is not the answer. If you find yourself in the bottom of a deep hole, the first order of business should be to STOP DIGGING!
The author is a former Orange County candidate for the Vermont Legislature.
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Categories: Commentary, State Government
this dirty movie in vermont has gone on for over fifty years/// now inflation has drove it off a cliff/// thank the federal reserve and there gang in washington and, your vermont leaders/// you can not bond your way out of a depression/// shut down the fed. money/// no more grants/// no more public private partners/// and a halt of reasons to create more debt/// this state will shut down//// 99,000,000.00 bond in woodstock for a school/// what a joke///
I came to Vermont with lots of money. My home is a showpiece and I have hundreds of acres of land which is enrolled in Vermont’s Current Use program. I don’t pay much in property taxes because of Current Use. I love Current Use.
I also love going to Town Meeting every March so that I can vote for property tax increases. I only pay pennies on the dollar for those tax increases (thank you Current Use). Let the suckers and losers in their trailer homes pay full freight on their property taxes. Losers.
Did I mention that I love current use? Please keep Current Use going because I wouldn’t be able to afford my showpiece Vermont estate without this program.
I’m buying more land soon so that those losers from the trailer homes don’t buy it and build a house. I’m posting the land too.
Current Use is the least of your problems. It’s a tax deferral program, if you agree not to develop your land. Now the Homestead Tax Credit is another story. But neither of these aspects are the real problem – which is, of course, an education cartel with 1 employee for every 2 K-12 students, paying an average of $60K per year and under-funded ‘goldplated’ benefits for amounts to part-time work.
Do the math.
With more than 37,700 AOE employees serving only 72,747 K-12 students, one would think the VT Agency of Education and its public schools had the staff to do a better job in all categories. After all, with a $2.08 Billion projected education budget ($28,400+ per K-12 student) one would think they’d do a better job educating the kids. That fewer than half of Vermont’s high school graduates meet grade level proficiencies at that price isn’t anything to write home about (if they can even write).
If you want to save money and improve student outcomes, cut education spending by allowing all parents to have School Choice. If you focus on Current Use or the Homestead Tax credit, you simply redistribute the tax burden and pay more money to the public-school monopoly.
Good for you Rosamund! How nice you came to Vt. with lots of money, and then found a way to reduce your taxes and buy more land, or did I misunderstand you? Well- I also like current use because it is allowing me to keep my farm so I can continue living on the place where I grew up. BTW-I’m third generation here on this property and 7th generation i my Town. My property was founded in 1798 by one of the first founders in Vt. I’m sure Abdial Bliss is happy to see the property he founded is still being operated as a farm, and I thank him, and his family, every day, in respect to Current use.
I appreciate your enthusiasm. Being that Vermont is a welfare haven for rich and poor, you are only gaming a system set up for your personal benefit. Much like Elon Musk and Bill Gates. Where would they be now without government programs and funding? Perhaps when the illegal immigrants arrive, current use will be amended to house them on your spawling domain for the government population replacement program? From those of us not so learned in getting something for nothing redistributed onto our backs, you’re welcome! Remember, you can’t take it with you and your headstone can be as grandiose as it will be insignificant.
If we do not approve this beauty salon for pigs, where will the money for BLM, 1619, LGBTQ+, Drag Queen Story Hour, and all of the other socialist government “help” get their money ? What ? They’ll just cut money from math, science, history, and technical school training even more to make up the difference ? The dickens you say !
2020 Vermont Spending:
Education = $1.314 Billion
Total State = $5.8 Billion
2022 Vermont Spending: (a Covid year)
Education = $2.16 Billion (64% increase over 2020)
Total State = $10.08 Billion (74% increase over 2020)
Now that Covid is over, are we going back to pre-Covid spending? Of course not. It’s a racket. Thievery. And there’s nothing anyone but the government cartels can do about it. Can’t wait for the next ‘emergency’ from which the State can ‘protect’ us.
Thank you Bill for this well written article. We have spoken several times at T Fair, and it is a DARN shame you never got to hep us under the Golden Dome. As we agree, we just have to keep letting them know we are still around.
one wants to watch the group of people or wall street operations that are buying income tax free bonds/// they must love vermont/// good way to bury your drug money/// but to keep this operation going ,you have to have willing customers in vermont to keep the tourists coming to supply the goods/// remember///c. i. a. // mena ark. when clinton was governor/// but this was fake news///
I was born and raised in Burlington and have been here 53yrs and we are getting out of Vermont. It’s not Vermont anymore It’s a progressive waste land.
None of these candidates 2024