by Guy Page
House Democrats say freezing property taxes “would be a really hard thing to do.”
Lori Houghton, House Majority Leader, was asked by the Vermont Daily Chronicle today if she supports a proposal by Rep. Gina Galfetti (R-Barre Town) to freeze property taxes for three years. Houghton, a representative from Essex, was speaking at the Democratic caucus’s first press conference of the 2026 session.
As reported yesterday by VDC, Galfetti has proposed equal cuts across every state agency in order to give voters zero increase in property taxes while the State of Vermont implements systemic education funding reform.
While saying Galfetti’s proposal is similar to a proposal to cap costs for school districts, Houghton said that “Costwise, we have to be very careful about looking at this proposal. That would be a really hard thing to do, when we have cost increases every year.” The rising cost of health care, salaries and other fixed costs makes a property tax freeze problematic, House Democrats say.