SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEM PHIL BARUTH ISSUES STATEMENT FOLLOWING THE ENACTMENT OF H.887, THE PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDING BILL
Montpelier, Vt. - Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth today issued the following statement on the enactment of H.887, the public education funding bill:
“In Vermont, local school boards determine the level of spending necessary to educate our children - and voters approve those budgets. The legislature then sets property tax rates accordingly to fund those budgets. In December 2023, when the Tax Department projected an average rate increase of 18.5%, the Legislature worked day and night to implement every responsible solution to lower property tax rates for the coming fiscal year. And we made real progress: we were able to decrease the property tax rate by nearly five percent. In addition, we were able to implement significant cost-containment measures and a plan to address long-term structural reform to Vermont’s education finance system. H887, the public education financing bill, represents serious, fiscally responsible property tax relief.
“The Governor’s veto, however, put all of that responsible property tax relief at risk. The implications of not enacting a yield bill are serious: Vermonters would actually face property tax increases of up to 30%, and an $82 million deficit in the Education Fund. The Governor's last-minute ideas for reducing rates further are all fiscal non-starters, and they would finally hurt – not help – Vermonters and their local schools. His plan would guarantee even more dramatic spikes in property tax rates going forward and would threaten the State’s credit rating, causing significantly higher borrowing costs for the State, municipalities, and school districts, further contributing to higher property tax rates.
"Not a single member of the Legislature would choose to raise property taxes if it could be avoided. But our local districts have sent us the bill that reflects all of the rising costs they face – and pretending that bill doesn't exist, or putting it on the credit card, won't help any of us. My profound thanks to the hard-working members of the House and Senate who faced those facts squarely and did the hard work to provide property tax relief and support our children and our schools."
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