Dear Editor,
The Vermont Legislature was recently in its Town Meeting Week break. This is an opportunity for us to go to Town/Informational Meetings, meet with constituents, and re-energize our personal batteries. When you represent 25 towns, this is a great time to get a better sense of some of the different places we represent, and an opportunity to re-appreciate this treasured Vermont tradition.
Before we left the statehouse, we passed the Budget Adjustment Act (BAA), which adjusts the fiscal year 2024 state budget. The BAA addressed a number of additional state needs from emergency housing to adult basic education. And it allocated $23.5 million to our most flood-impacted municipalities for much needed repairs of sewer systems and other damaged infrastructure. Of the 25 most impacted towns, nine are in Windsor County. And, while many towns will receive some financial support, Ludlow will receive the most, almost $3 million to help repair their devastated wastewater system. Here is a link to the funds allocated to each flood-impacted town: ljfo.vermont.gov/assets/Uploads/0b45686011/GENERAL-374929-v1-Muni_Grants_ERAF_summary.pdf
In addition, the legislature passed a fix to an education-funding problem, which resulted from 2022’s Act 127 in H.850. This year, some key cost drivers have challenged our schools as they created their budgets: a 16.4% increase in teachers’ health care, the end of one-time federal Covid/ESSER funds, overall inflation, and the debt service on new capital projects or renovations. And an aspect of Act 127 misled some school boards to think they had more financial protection than they did.
Act 127, known as the Pupil Weighting bill, led to budgeting confusion, and sent inaccurate messages about what was possible without raising taxes. Many school boards thought they could raise budgets 5%. However, the 5 % cap in Act 127 was designed for one purpose: to help districts hit particularly hard by the changes in pupil weighting adjust over time to accommodate those changes. The “5% cap” mechanism in Act 127 has not behaved as expected, preventing the legislature from taking necessary steps to reduce property tax rates for Vermonters, across towns.
We had to address the flaws in this mechanism ASAP. We did so in passing H.850, which repeals the 5% cap transition mechanism established in 2022’s Act 127 and replaces it with a new tax rate transition mechanism to be implemented between fiscal years 2025 and 2029. This new mechanism will grant a discount to some district homestead property tax rates for those districts negatively impacted by the new weighting system. We will continue to work on these education funding concerns as the legislative session continues.
I appreciate hearing from you. I can be reached by email at aclarkson@leg.state.vt.us, or by phone at the statehouse, Tuesday-Friday, at 802-828-2228, or at home, Saturday-Monday, at 802- 457-4627. To get more information on the Vermont Legislature, and the bills which have been proposed and passed, visit the legislative website at legislature.vermont.gov.
Sincerely,
Sen. Alison Clarkson
Windsor District