Dear Editor,
We recently became aware of the possibility of our property taxes increasing up to 20% next year. We find it totally unacceptable to burden us once again with a huge tax increase. Our property tax bill has increased over $1,000 each of the past two years. We cannot handle another increase. We’re senior citizens on fixed incomes. We have our land in Current Use, we get a homestead exemption, and have income sensitivity, and still our tax bill is more than 10% of our joint income.
The school funding system is not working. Each year the student population declines, yet spending goes up. This current system is forcing many longtime Vermonters to sell their homes and move out of state. We have noticed that in Cavendish more than 50% of the properties are owned by second homeowners, who don’t have children in our school systems, yet they pay school taxes and don’t get the exemptions residents do. The school system should have adequate money because of this. With all the money thrown into our schools, test scores indicate that Vermont students are no better educated than many other states with lower-funded education systems. Overall, the snapshot characterized Vermont’s academic performance as “not improving” (VT Digger).
We’re not understanding how all of this snowballed into this possibly insurmountable mess we have today.
Respectfully,
Christopher Wuttke
Kerry Beverstock
Cavendish, Vt.