By Michael Bielawski
A new study by WalltHub.com has Vermont at the third highest state tax burden in the nation and not much separates it from #1 New York State.
A breakdown of the numbers is Vermont is at 11.12%, New York is at 12.02% and Hawaii ranks second at 11.80%. The study can be read here.
Vermont’s property tax burden is 4.85%, the second highest in the nation. That figure is likely to increase with the estimated 13.8% statewide property tax resulting from the school funding bill passed by the Legislature last week. The individual income tax burden is 3.09% ranking 11th in the nation. The total sales & excise tax burden is 3.18% which is 27th nationally.
On the other side of the scale of the tax burden, Alaska has the lowest overall nationally at 4.93%. One of Vermont’s neighbors, New Hampshire, has the second lowest in the nation at 5.63%. And Florida which shares many multi-homeowners with Vermont has the fourth lowest at 6.05%.
The tax burden has ignited public criticism at levels unseen in recent years from the public which was told earlier this year that they may face about 20% in new property taxes.
The event with hundreds of distraught Vermonters gathering in the halls and rooms of the Statehouse – for the second time this session – largely culminated with a speech by former State Senator and gubernatorial candidate John Rodgers.
“The legislature wasted time on an Act 250 bill which makes it easier for wealthy developers to develop in downtowns that are dumping raw sewage into our waterways,” Rodgers said in a press conference.
He continued, “While making it harder to develop and subdivide in rural communities where most young Vermonters want to be.”
He also criticized that the energy policies are being largely dictated by and benefiting large green energy companies rather than being driven by helping Vermonters.
Gov. Phil Scott has also been publicly critical of efforts by the legislature to remix how school taxes are collected but not require tangible efforts to reduce spending.
“The yield bill being considered today in the house, and the huge property tax increase it will bring, I don’t believe is something most Vermonters can accept,” Scott said on Wednesday.
He added, “And from what I’ve heard I don’t think the Senate will either. Vermonters simply cannot afford a historic double-digit increase in their property taxes.”
Rep. Casey Toof, R- St. Albans, was one of numerous lawmakers to sound off critical of H. 887 which intends to redistribute tax burden but does little to reduce it.
He said, “[H.887] is not going to fix the structural problems with our education system, this is putting a band aid on this issue… my grandmother is in her 90s and spends $20 per week on groceries and this 13% increase that is going to affect her.”
Friday, Toof tweeted on X that “the VT House just voted 93-44 on Yield bill that will set property tax bills w/ an average increase of 13.8% across the state. I voted no because it’s irresponsible for us to ask Vters to pay historic double digit property tax increases w/o any structural changes to the Ed Fund.”
Gregory Thayer recently announced candidacy to run again for the GOP ticket for lieutenant governor. In his announcement he warned non-homeowner Vermonters that they too should be concerned about rising property taxes.
“Renters, I know you don’t pay property tax. They charge your landlords an extra 25%, and believe me, your landlord will increase your rent up to take care of the payment. State government is regulating Vermonters into the poorhouse, with inflation up 18% in three years.”
Discover more from Vermont Daily Chronicle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: State Government
Well how else are we supposed to fund all our wonderful DEI efforts and provide free drugs and housing for all the homeless?
End sarcasm.
Hmm… I wonder. What do those 3 states have in common (other than the astronomically high taxes, failing economies, demographic crises and sordid history of state-sponsored child abuse?)
CLUE: It begins with a D and ends in cr*p.
Don’t worry. Vermont will soon be #1
3rd ? 3rd ? With all that our citizen legislators are doing “for us” there is absolutely no excuse for us not being #1 ! Come on Vt Legislators, you can spend more of our hard earned money faster, I know you can ! You dirt bags !
Careful now… you know they have no sense of humor, right?
Jon, I realy don’t care about their “sense of humor” . Mine went out the window with the passing of S.5, and all the scaming of tax payers that has gone on since that in the name of what is supposedly good for tax payers . They are what they are, and in my opinion, my definition of a dirt bag fits most of them to a T,
I came here to say the same thing!
vermont leaders are number two on my score card///
a BIG PILE of number two…
You can thank, Progressive ” regressive ” DermocRATs, for turning our Beautiful state
into an overtaxed progressive cesspool.
The ” supermajority ” is a majority, of inept feckless fools, and you voted these clowns in year after year……. this is your reward.
While I agree with the other commenters regarding taxes and the generally awful condition of the state, what struck me in this article is that Rep. Toof seems to allow his grandmother to live in $20 per week on groceries. Rep. Toof, please tell me you are helping her out.
Vermont is a small State. The tax revenues are dependent on income, property, and businesses. It is obvious the Federal pork supporting the behemouth welfare system is what keeps Vermont from imploding into it’s own cellar hole. Since 2020, the number of lost businesses, lost jobs, stagnant wages, less spending, raging inflation, deaths, and disabilities has put Vermonters squarely in the cross-hairs of never being able to recover or get any financial stability whatsoever.
James Carville, said in 1992, “it’s the economy stupid.” Thirty-two years later, it’s much worse, even after the bankster shenanigans of 2008. There is never any recovery, just rearranging the deck chairs and restart the whole scam over again. We always lose, and the co-conspirators win bail outs and insider stock options guaranteed.
Recently, a financial analyst spoke about the “stripper index.” Appears a lady who works at a famous Nevada brothel reported her income declined 65% in 2023. When it comes to consumer discretionary spending, if live action satisfaction is being passed up in Las Vegas, it sends a distinct signal. Some economists are saying it indicates the head winds are a vicious storm front plunging us into a silent depression. The wallets are slamming shut (if there is anything in them) and credit card debt is over a trillion dollars with highest delinquency rates in decades.
Main street is turning into mean street. No matter what the bureaucrats, politicians or installed belligerent administration says, the real numbers don’t lie, nor do the sex workers or beleaguered taxpayers.
The demo-prog legislature is apparently unaware that the wheelbarrows of cash that Pat Leahy regularly brought to Vermont are no longer rolling in…
They are trying to be #1 again, please don’t get in their way, otherwise they’ll repossess your house.
And if you vote for something sane in the next month, they will take all power and control from you pesky voters.