Property taxes to pay for pre-k-12 education are projected to climb again next year, this time by an average of 5.9%, the Vermont Department of Taxes announced on Monday in its
annual “Dec. 1” letter . The predicted increase comes after an already financially strenuous year for property owners, who
saw their property taxes soar almost 14% in 2024 due to rising education spending needs . This year’s increase was originally supposed to be even higher at 18.5%, but lawmakers managed to pare it down by using one-time monies and reallocating additional revenue to the education fund. If lawmakers do not again take action to reduce next year’s education tax rate during the upcoming legislative session, Vermonters will have faced an increase in property taxes of 33% over the last three years. “While we are relieved to see a decrease from last year’s projection, the continued growth in our property taxes is unsustainable and unaffordable for Vermonters across the state,” said House Speaker Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) in a press conference on Tuesday. “One of the greatest issues facing Vermonters is affordability,” said Gov. Phil Scott (R-Vermont) in a press release following the release of the Dec. 1 letter, adding that the “last thing Vermonters need is yet another property tax increase.” In a press conference on Wednesday, Gov. Scott said he will be fighting for a zero percent increase or, preferably, a property tax decrease.
Senate Minority Leader Scott Beck (R-Caledonia) said Republican senators supported Scott’s pitch for a zero percent cap. House Republicans proposed a 3% cap during a press conference prior to Scott’s own on Wednesday afternoon.
'Meaningful change is coming': Lawmakers agree property taxes are first priority
Education property tax increases are largely believed to be the main reason Republicans won
their most legislative seats in decades and put an end to the Democrat-Progressive supermajority in both the house and senate. “Vermonters clearly voiced their opposition to increasing education property tax rates in the most recent election,” wrote Beck in a Dec. 2 press release, promising that Republican would work to “reform the Education Fund so that it is transparent, understandable to Vermonters and establishes a closer connection between district spending decisions and local tax rates.” Surviving Democratic lawmakers – who still hold a meager majority in both chambers – are working hard to reassure voters that they, too, will prioritize property tax reform. “We have reached a critical juncture, and this pattern cannot be continued,” Krowinski said during her Dec. 3 press conference, adding that Vermonters “deserve a thriving public education and affordable, predictable tax rates” and “to achieve both, we need all hands on deck.” Krowinski added in her press conference that every house committee would have a role to play in making property taxes more affordable for residents this year. “I want to assure you that real meaningful change is coming,” she said.
When does the work start this session?
Senate Pro Tempore Sen. Phil Baruth (D/P-Burlington) – who has accused Scott of placing unfair blame on Democratic and Progressive lawmakers for Vermont’s affordability crisis – said in a press release that he is giving the governor the chance to hit the ground running at the start of the session. “I’m offering Governor Scott the first full week of the new legislative session to present his proposals – both past and present – to address projected property rates for the coming year and larger structural reforms to prevent such spikes in the future,” Baruth wrote. He also accused Scott and his team of historically providing last minute proposals comprising only “bullet points or a quickly sketched ‘menu of options.’” “It’s critical that his proposals be provided at the very beginning of the legislative session,” Baruth said, because “the education finance system is complex” and committees, legislative counsel and the Joint Fiscal Office need time to review them. Scott, however, said in his Wednesday press release that day one is too early to propose his team’s new policy because they need to know what the budget is going to be first, but that he will present it to lawmakers sometime at the beginning of the session. Scott said that in the meantime, he’s “happy” to discuss proposals he has made in the past. “We had an answer back in the spring, but they didn’t take that up” and then later chose to override his veto, Scott said. He added, however, that he’s encouraged to hear Democratic lawmakers are finally “willing to listen” to his ideas.
Potential solutions
Rep. Emilie Kornheiser (D-Brattleboro), who chairs the House Committee on Ways and Means, said during Krowinski’s Dec. 3 press conference that there is no “one solution” to fixing the “complex” property tax system, and that reform will be a “significant undertaking” for the entire legislature. “We’re going to need to move forward with a slew of meaningful policy reforms,” Kornheiser said. For instance, lawmakers may consider ideas like performing a major audit of the education fund’s costs or adjusting the fund’s revenue sources, Kornheiser said. She added that lawmakers have “talked extensively” about modifying the education funding formula, like how taxes are levied. “This is everything from appraisals to property tax credits,” Kornheiser said. Beck, however, wrote in his Dec. 2 press release that senate Republicans will not accept anything less than “fundamental systemic reform to the education fund.” “Some have proposed that education tax increases can be averted by simply dedicated additional revenue to the education fund or cost-shifting,” he wrote. “Others believe if we craft a correct system of penalties and thresholds, the problem can be solved. We strongly disagree with such thinking.”
