Dear Editor,
I would like to address the unacceptable tax situation that the state legislature is feeling entitled to levy on the good citizens of Vermont, specifically the education tax and the multimillion dollar bond for the Woodstock Union High School.
Property taxes in Vermont have risen sharply over the past several years. Vermont ranks fifth nationwide in average property tax rate, at 1.417%.
Many families are already facing affordability challenges as inflation remains elevated, health-care costs continue to rise year after year, and wage growth in Vermont has not kept pace.
According to the Vermont Futures Project, which tracks the state against national benchmarks, Vermont continues to struggle with population decline and slow economic growth, and, as of January 2026, ranks last in the nation for economic momentum.
House lawmakers advanced a bill last week tapping nearly $75 million in one-time surplus funds to hold next year’s average increase to around 7%. The underlying math hasn’t changed: Education costs are growing about twice as fast as the revenues that support them. Vermont’s per-pupil costs remain among the highest in the nation. Enrollment continues to fall, and an aging population means a shrinking tax base.
Vermont is losing population. For three years running, Vermont has topped the list of all states in percentage loss of population. New U.S. Census estimates show the state had the largest percentage decline in the country last year. Vermont Public reports the loss of more than 1,800 residents, driven by an aging population and continued out-migration. For the second year in a row, more people left the state than moved in. By 2030, roughly one in three Vermonters will be over 65. That means fewer workers, fewer students, and higher health-care costs, all putting pressure on the tax base. At the same time, decades of constrained development have left Vermont with one of the oldest housing stocks in the nation, worsening affordability just as the state needs younger workers and families to move in.
Vermont is amongst the lowest in the country in housing affordability and has some of the highest tax rates in the country. There are only approximately 400 students at the current Woodstock Union High School, and enrollment will continue to fall throughout the next few years. Teachers cannot afford to move here. Young families will not relocate to the area because of the tax burden imposed on its citizens by an ignorant legislative body.
The local school board has misrepresented the Woodstock Union High School project to the public by ignoring the facts. There is no need to do a complete renovation.
The elderly, middle class, and those at poverty level are already suffering, and this bond will cripple the next generation with debt that will destroy lives.
People in the age group from 20-40 are leaving Vermont because there are no jobs, no housing, and no hope for the future to make a decent living.
The $111 million requested to build a new school is beyond comprehension in this state of financial instability. What cost $88 million two years ago is now up to $111 million, and yet the board failed to take into consideration the state of the world economy when proposing these numbers.
Stop the madness of spending and driving the residents of Vermont into poverty.
Sincerely,
Rick Martin
Plymouth, Vt.