For the record, increasing local tax rates by one cent would raise approximately $50,000 in Waitsfield, $30,000 in Warren, $28,000 in Fayston and $16,000 in Moretown.
Alternately, to raise $10,000 a year in Waitsfield would increase the tax rate by one-fifth of a percent. In Warren and Fayston it would raise the tax rate by about a third of a cent and in Moretown it would raise the tax rate (based on last year's rate) by about a half of a cent. Conventional wisdom has it that adding a penny to the tax rate equals raising the tax on a $100,000 home by $1.00.
That's if the towns pay for the whole thing. If the towns split the $30,000 annual cost with the 240-member businesses of the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce, it would cost member businesses $50 a year -- in addition to what the chamber members and Sugarbush already pay.
If all 600 local businesses -- chamber members or not -- contributed, the costs would be reduced even further.
It is possible for towns to warn the expenditure of the $10,000 per town it will take to create a commuter route in 2009 rather than 2010. If warned ASAP, voters may be able to approve/disapprove the funding during September primary elections.
If Green Mountain Transit receives a commitment from local towns sooner versus later for the local share of $30,000, public transit might be possible.
Requests to local select boards for the funding were deferred to Town Meeting in March 2009. With the right leadership, this issue could be brought back to those boards immediately.
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