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By Stu Lindberg
Many residents of Windsor County and all of Vermont are struggling. I am one of them. My property taxes went up by another $800 this year. Woodstock residents saw a 30 percent increase in their education property taxes. Similarly, there was a
34 percent increase in Bridgewater, 26 percent in Thetford and 16.6 percent in Norwich.
In my experience, the exodus of Vermonters has reached a 30-year high. Far too many long-time friends and neighbors have been forced to leave the state they love because they simply cannot sustain a home here. My own two daughters are leaving state and will probably never return because they just cannot afford to live here. As a member of my local fire department and rescue squad, I have witnessed firsthand the destruction that the opioid epidemic has inflicted on Vermont families. Every day, news outlets report on Vermont’s failing public schools, our failing hospitals, the tragedy of rampant homelessness, and a rising crime rate that has spiraled out of control.
When I was a young man, I could have never imagined that Vermont would fall victim to such institutionalized dysfunction at the hands of the Vermont Legislature , the vast web of departments and agencies that has created a ‘permanent Montpelier,’ and the billion dollar non-profit sector that acts as a shadow government. Are you looking forward to another $1000 increase in your property taxes next year? Are you looking forward to another two-digit hike in your health insurance premiums next year, and the year after next?Are you looking forward to new laws that will further reduce your take home pay?
Are you looking forward to losing your income as an independent contractor or tradesman? Are you looking forward to selling the farm or small business that has belonged to your family for generations? Are you looking forward to leaving your aging parents behind when you’re forced to relocate to another state? Are you looking forward to living thousands of miles from your children because they cannot build a future in Vermont?
If you are, then vote for Democratic Party candidates this November. If, however, you are sick of losing your retirement savings, a future of financial security, and your close social circle, then why not try something new this election? Even if you depend on government assistance, there is no gurantee that the government can continue to help you. Ask the survivors of Hurricane Helene.
This election, let’s turn the tide on Vermont’s managed decline. I urge you to join me in voting for Andrea Murray, Jack Williams, Jonathan Gleasons, and every Republican candidate on the ballot that has not created the problems that plague our state. Instead, let’s elect new faces that want all Vermonters to thrive in vibrant communities.
Stu Lindberg
Cavendish, Vermont
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Categories: Commentary
How well did that one hundred million dollar bond make out in Woodstock Vermont????? Lets start investigating bond fraud and the debt placed on home owners.
Well Vermont, when you keep voting progressives into office, this is the nonsense you get, if you don’t like ” TAX ” increases, then have it stop, ” VOTE ” these clowns out as that’s all they’ll understand !!
Welcome to the Hotel California.
Thank you , Mr. Lindberg. The case has never been so clear about the dire consequences of voting for democrats and progressives. Hey Vermont liberals, you can still virtue signal all you like when you post your yard signs, leave comments on the Front Porch Forum, choose bumperstickers and the political buttons you wear to the farmer’s market but when you are in the privacy and anonymity of the voting booth, PLEASE dont vote for any of those destructive jackasses of the democrat and progressive parties.
I’m mad and sad at what’s become of my state. Definitely started changing drastically around 2006. Air bb took a lot of rentals off the market. The banking fiasco/ recession that started in 2008 took a lot of equity away from homeowners, and retirement funds lost forever…and the wealthy, banks and real estate investors were the only ones to scoop up the homes. Then came the pandemic with high paying tech workers flooding in who knew nothing of the ways of Vermonters. All the while crime and drug use increased drastically. Taxes kept climbing. Remember when the sugar houses were ransacked for scrap metal and copper wiring stripped from constructionsites? Snowbirds coming back to find their appliances gone? WTF Vermont. Now more taxes, the stupidity with heating, taxing oil, bill. Little Vermont is not going to make a dent in climate change, but it’s going to keep the poor, low and middle income asking for fuel assistance and never be able to save for their family or for a down-payment to own. Codes, regulations will not allow young people to build a tiny home, cabin or cottage (with future plans to expand)on a few acres. Im oretty sure the state forbids someone who wants to put a composting or incineration toilet in their cabin, not hook up to the grid and use solar and kerosene lamps. Take back Vermont from the idiots under the dome and stop any more taxes. Montpelier has plenty of money, they just don’t allocate it properly.