MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Voters in the Champlain Valley School District, the state’s largest school district, were among those districts returning to the ballot box Tuesday to give their school budget a second vote. It comes as Vermont lawmakers are about to advance a bill seeking to stem a property tax revolt unleashed on Town Meeting Day.
The House Ways and Means Committee is searching for ways to contain the growth of education spending instead of directly cutting costs. The annual yield bill sets the statewide property tax rate. This year it includes new taxes — a cloud tax on business software and short-term rentals — to try to buy down the property tax increase. It also funds yet another commission to study tax reform over the next year and a half. This is in addition to a blue ribbon tax commission over 10 years ago and a tax-structure commission from about five years ago.
This year, lawmakers are also using the yield bill to lay the groundwork for education finance reform. However, there’s division over a section that calls for more transparency that would require districts to list per-pupil costs, whether they have increased or decreased from the previous year, and whether they exceed the district’s excess spending threshold. Supporters say it’s aimed at helping taxpayers better understand the impact of their vote, but others say the information could be confusing.
The committee ended up keeping the language in the bill, but as it moves to the House floor for debate, the issue of transparency is expected to remain in the spotlight.
Mt. Abe, the Elmore Morristown Unified Union School District, and the Springfield School District are also voting on Tuesday. According to Vermont school officials, around 80 school budgets have been approved while about 40 have either been defeated or haven’t been voted on yet.