Death and taxes, as the old adage goes, will always be with us. And taxes are on the minds of many as property tax bills hit the mailboxes.
It takes only a quick glance at those bills to determine that municipal spending stays relatively stable across The Valley – with some exceptions that are generally the result of unanticipated or unavoidable town expenditures, like a super snowy or icy winter.
Fayston’s municipal tax rate from 2004 to 2015 has ranged from a high of 28 cents per hundred dollars of assessed value in 2008 to a low of 17 cents in 2011. This year’s rate is 22 cents.
It’s not the town taxes that are the onerous ones. Obviously, the pain that people feel comes from education taxes. And while it’s fine to complain about tax burdens and the cost of education, which continues to rise annually, it is also important to remember that Vermont’s education taxes are income sensitized.
In Vermont, families with total household incomes of $25,000 or less will pay no more than 3 percent of their total household income in combined municipal and education taxes. That is $750.
Families with combined household incomes of $35,000 or less will pay no more than 4 percent of their total income in combined municipal and education taxes. That is $1,400.
Families earning a combined household income of $47,000 or less will pay no more than 5 percent of their total income in municipal and education taxes. That is $2,350.
Families with combined household incomes of $47,001 on up to $90,000 are similarly income sensitized, only through a more complicated formula that factors in the town’s per pupil spending rates.
Households earning between $90,000 and $137,000 have a “soft” income sensitization. And even households earning much more than $137,000 can be paying as a percentage of their household income.
Yes, education costs keep going up and, yes, people complain about their tax bills. But it’s important to keep these facts in mind when we listen to our leaders talk about infrastructure spending and taxes as a reason for voting for or against any particular project.
