My name is Christine Stone, and I wasn’t planning on running for the State House of Representatives this year. What changed my mind? Like all of us living in Cornwall, Ripton, Leicester, Goshen and Salisbury, I got my property tax bill!
Clearly, something needs to change in Montpelier, starting with the people we send there to craft these policies. Our representative is Chairman of the House Education Committee. He as much if not more than anyone is personally responsible for the policies that led to a historic 31 percent education property tax increase in Cornwall that will crush so many household budgets.
He is equally responsible for the complete lack of meaningful action to address this issue. This kind of governance cannot be rewarded with two more years in office. Many cannot afford this tax increase on top of the recent health insurance premium increases, new payroll tax and “cloud tax” on internet-based services and a 20 percent increase in DMV fees.
If elected this November, I pledge to fight for and demand that the legislature enact some form of property tax relief
immediately and will work diligently to reform our education finance system for the long term.
The property tax increase is just the tip of the iceberg. In January 2025, the newly elected legislature is mandated by law
to vote for or against rules implementing a “carbon credit” system on home heating fuels, which is effectively an excise
tax on oil, propane, natural gas and kerosene.
Best estimates show this program adding somewhere between 70¢ to more than $4.00 per gallon to those fuels. Again, this is simply unaffordable. If elected this November, I pledge to be a guaranteed “NO” vote on the “Clean Heat” carbon tax and any bill designed to raise Vermonters’ costs to heat our homes and keep warm in wintertime. This position is not shared by the incumbent representative, who not only voted for this home heat carbon tax system twice in 2022 and 2023 but voted twice to
override Governor Scott’s veto of the scheme, the second time successfully.
He also voted for the higher DMV fees we’ve been paying since the new year, the new payroll tax that’s been coming
out of our salaries since July, new energy regulations that will drive up our electric bills, a tax on internet-based services,
and to add insult to injury, voted for a bill that would have more than doubled his own salary, as taxpayers are struggling
to make ends meet. None of this is sustainable or responsible governance.
Although Governor Scott’s veto of the legislators’ pay raise bill was successful, many incumbents have vowed to bring it
back after this coming election. Again, I pledge that I will be a guaranteed “NO” vote for raising the salaries of
lawmakers, especially when Vermonters are struggling so hard to get by under the policies passed by these same
lawmakers.
The quality of work we’ve been getting does not deserve a raise. Vermont deserves better. Vermont is facing some serious crises today, from the overall cost of living to climate related flooding, to crime and substance abuse. We all need to get real about finding thoughtful, realistic and affordable solutions to these issues. This is why I am running for the House of Representatives for Cornwall, Ripton, Leicester, Goshen and Salisbury, and I am asking for your vote on November 5 or by early mail-in ballot after September 23. Thank you!