By James Tabor
Fifteen Vermont school districts have now held second budget votes and almost all have been rejected. Taxpayers here have ample reason to do the same and hopefully will. The HUUSD board’s revised budget will hike property taxes from 13.4% in Duxbury to 22.4% in Warren. Did anyone out there get a 13.4% raise this year, let alone 22.4%? Is everyone already gasping at skyrocketing prices for groceries, services, rents, mortgages, insurance, childcare, and more? Of course.
The HUUSD board stated here that “The reasons for the budget failure are clear. People have had enough of endless tax increases…” The board also said, “The state is scrambling for solutions…but it will take some time to figure out long term solutions.” We’ve heard that line too many times. School boards blame legislators. Legislators blame governors. Governors blame the other party. It would be a joke, if not so painful for those footing the bill.
At some point, “endless” has to end and we, like the taxpayers elsewhere, have the power to make it happen. So far, school boards, legislators, and governors are all equally responsible for this mess.. Now, if we do not vote to end the endless mess, shame on us. We’ve asked and pleaded and begged and they’ve ignored us for decades. We must send a message they cannot ignore by voting down every budget until someone somehow fixes the funding system. If that means HUUSD goes into its new fiscal year without an approved budget, so be it. There are only two government entities that can legally reach into your bank accounts and take your money, like it or not: the IRS, and school boards. Think about it. Your costs of living go up every year, but you can’t just grab cash from your neighbors to cover the costs. Thanks to the Vermont Supreme Court and Act 60, school districts have the power to do just that through property taxes. They don’t actually steal from you—there’s nothing criminal about this process. It’s entirely—and absurdly—legal.
What’s the worst-case scenario if the HUUSD board can’t present an acceptable budget by July 1? The law now allows a district to borrow up to 87% of its prior year's budget. Schools don’t close. But they do have to live within a very tight budget. If it comes to that, it’s on them. I’m not talking about teachers and coaches and custodians. They’re caught in the middle right along with the rest of us. I’m talking about school boards and legislators and governors who have kicked this can down the road for far too long. It’s on them.
We have a rare opportunity to force long overdue change to a heinous system right now by voting no on the revised school budget and any more with increases beyond inflation. Most of fifteen other districts have already done so. We should, too. Please use your power to compel property tax reform by voting no for the revised HUUSD budget.
Tabor lives in Waitsfield
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