A few weeks ago, 3,000-plus subscribers and I received notices from United Health Care that our insurance policies would be terminated as of December 31, 2024. The Green Mountain Care Board, GMCB, which regulates health care in Vermont, ruled that Central Vermont Medical Center, CVMC, and its parent University of Vermont Medical Center, UVMC, must cut losses by $122 million. It “mandated reductions to administrative and clinical services to comply with Vermont state budget orders.”
As always, while at UVMC’s hospital last week I was very impressed by the facility, personnel, and quality of care -- then returned home to read The Valley Reporter’s article confirming closure of our local medical center. In 2020, Waitsfield’s pharmacy burned and has not been replaced.
Valley Dental Associates cannot accept new patients because of limited facilities. I attempted to add additional chairs into the building, but restrictions on development and expansion put the kibosh on my proposal. While the medical building was still in its design phase, I suggested combining Valley Dental into the same building, a medical/dental complex. How great would that have been? We could have shared expenses such as landscaping, plowing, heat, building maintenance, business offices, billing, bookkeeping, laundry, etc. Both bottom lines would have benefited and maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t have been in such a bind today. That proposal was also shot down.
“All Things Considered,” triggered my following thoughts and suggestions about education funding from another perspective:
Currently, 80% of our property taxes, plus the double-digit increase, feed that woefully mismanaged education funding system for some-of-the-people-all-of-the-time.
Consider that it’s $1,870,000,000 budget funding sources include the following:
- $444,000,000 from property taxes.
- $700,000,000 from non-homestead property taxes.
- Sales and Use Tax: 100% of the taxes collected when people buy tangible personal property.
- Meals and Rooms Tax: 25% of the taxes from dining out and lodging: $41,000,000.
- Lottery Revenues: 100% of the net proceeds (read ‘profit’) from lottery ticket sales; $27,000,000.
- Purchase and Use Tax: 33% of the taxes from vehicle purchases and registrations $35,000,000.
- Energy Taxes: taxes on wind and solar energy production.
- Medicaid Transfers: funds transferred from Medicaid for eligible services.
- Short-term rental surcharge: 100% of the surcharge on stays in short-term rentals that are not licensed as lodging establishments.
- And another unaccounted $623,000,000 from our other ‘deep’ pockets.
Still, not enough...
Last year’s consumer price index rose 3.4%, so where do our legislators have the gall to justify increasing our taxes five times the CPI.
Perhaps Vermont’s taxpayers wouldn’t be so angry at the thugs in Montpelier if a substantial chunk of those property taxes funded public services that provide for all-of-the-people-all-of-the-time, e.g., hospitals, medical care, roads, police, fire, etc. Although I can afford being mugged, I certainly don’t like it. There are those who cannot afford such an outrageous increase and struggle to pay taxes and buy food. I would prefer donating to those noble charities that I have selected and have proven they deserve and will spend my dollars wisely. Although I realize the value of education and am willing to support it, we agree that a substantial amount of our tax dollars are not contributing to the primary function of our schools, i.e., actual education of students. There are too many parasites along for their free ride at our expense.
According to my calculations, UVMC’s $122 million shortfall, which certainly sounds like a lot, is a measly 6% of the education’s budget. That money might have prevented closure of our medical office, funded an in-house pharmacy, and prevented 3,000 patients from insurance termination. It seems to me that our representatives are spending those dollars as if they were Monopoly money. It has no real value to them. In spite of their wasting public money, those spendthrifts still score “get out of jail free” cards, pass “Go,” and collect $200 (million) dollars. If you or I ran our businesses the way they run our government, we would be out of business.
It’s easy to complain without constructive suggestions; so here are some:
“We the people” in the private sector have had to purchase our own health insurance, fund our own retirement plans (perhaps with help from our employers), and feed ourselves out of our own pockets; and, we must also buy those same freebie benefits for those in the education system, too.
My suggestion: Considering predictions that taxes will rise again next year due to the escalating cost of their health insurance, (as will ours) I suggest those state employees contribute out of their paychecks toward their own medical insurance and retirement funds.
My thoughts and feelings about free food for students only are more flexible. No one should go hungry or be forced to eat more affordable junk food in our country, even though Vermont is only one of eight states providing, that in spite of rating 17th from the bottom in per capita income. Here’s a thought for those in Montpelier -- perhaps if property taxes were more reasonable, low income families could afford to buy food, electricity, gasoline, fuel and stimulate their local economies. Have they no shame, their greed no limit?
Yes, education is important, but not nearly as much as absolute basic, fundamental needs; namely, food, shelter, and medical care.
Our Legislature is arbitrarily and capriciously “adjusting the CLAs by 72% -- that could have been drawn out of a hat -- fuzzy math that is “unreliable and suspect.” Their explanation and justification: ‘blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, ad nauseum.’
Actions speak louder than words.
Zonies lives in Fayston.
