The Harwood Unified Union School District Board is delaying the first of its two planned budget meetings for public input and questions until December 12. The board had planned to hold meetings on December 5 and December 10.
“We have decided to move our first community engagement about budget to Thursday, December 12, because we want to have more information to share than we currently do. We expect to have the letter from the tax commissioner before December 12 which will fill in some much-needed data,” HUUSD board chair Ashley Woods said this week in an email to The Valley Reporter and Waterbury Roundabout.
Woods said locations and times for the rescheduled meetings would be released shortly.
Commissioner of Taxes, Craig Bolio, has released the December 1 education tax rate letter which forecasts the education tax yields for resident homeowners and the non-homestead tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year 2026.
This year’s letter projects education property tax bills to increase by a statewide average of 5.9% next fiscal year.
Governor Phil Scott weighed in on the projected increase as Republican, Democratic and Progressive legislators arranged meetings.
“One of the greatest issues facing Vermonters is affordability. With an already high tax burden, the last thing Vermonters need is yet another property tax increase. I know many will claim victory, and celebrate this increase being limited to single digits. But the fact is, with this projected increase, Vermonters will have seen a 33% increase in education property taxes in the last three years. This is the result of unsustainable costs, an aging demographic, and smaller workforce,” Scott said.
“I am hopeful legislators will take a moment to reflect on how difficult any increase will be and work with my administration to reduce the tax burden on Vermonters who simply cannot afford more and make changes necessary to achieve long-term sustainability. This increase could have been substantially more – and still could be – so I want to thank school administrators and school boards who have made difficult decisions because I know it’s not easy,” he added.
