November 29, 2025

Property Taxes and Education

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you are having a relaxing and joy filled holiday weekend.

In a few days, the Tax Commissioner is going to release a letter that communicates what the administration expects will be our average statewide property tax next year, based on:

·         expected revenues,  

·         expected property values,

·         the budgets school boards are proposing to local voters,

·         other currently existing costs in the education fund,

·         any funding gap created by decisions the prior year

As you recall, last year this letter prompted widespread angst and a call for major property tax relief. The legislature pulled the levers at its disposal to reduce property taxes last year and to start the education reform process. However, some of this was short sighted - at the Governor’s urging the legislature used tens of millions of surplus money to buy down the rate last year. (I voted against this). This sets us up for a big spike this year.

The Commissioner is likely to predict a double-digit increase in property tax bills - this will be very difficult for Vermonters to accept. I know people are worried about increasing property taxes, increasing costs of healthcare, housing, groceries, and the future of our communities. We have structural spending challenges we need to address in order to lower costs.

Between high housing costs, high healthcare costs, inflation on everything else and diminishing support from the Federal government, far too many families are worried about paying their bills - we in Montpelier simply have to find creative solutions. 

Why will this tax bill estimate be high?  As school boards build their budgets, all the fundamentals that drove high spending last year are still in place. These increases include cost pressures boards cannot fix on their own, including:

·         Double-digit increases in healthcare premiums (Last year, increases in teacher healthcare and mental health costs drove total spending up about $100 million.) Combined with the increases in premiums that families are facing for their own healthcare, this creates a “double-whammy” for taxpayers.

·         Our shortage of housing paired with our aging population means we have many fewer school-aged children in our school system. Fewer kids means higher costs per kid to maintain our same basic programs.

·         School districts have become responsible for more social services, including for an unprecedented number of unhoused children this year. It is unclear how much upward pressure this will put on school budgets, and whether this is the most efficient and effective way to address child poverty.  

·         We need a new funding formula that appropriately directs resources to make sure every district has what it needs to educate its children at a price we can afford and that is transparent to taxpayers. We also need to protect our ability to choose where we send our kids to be educated.

·         I think we also need to look at shifting some of the tax burden to the income tax.

The Redistricting Task Force, charged by the legislature to come up with maps to shape the redistricting mandate we passed last session, came back with no maps and a proposal for voluntary consolidation and a cooperative shared services plan that is common in other states. The task force was unconvinced that widescale forced redistricting would actually save money. And it would clearly be disruptive and burdensome. So, we have various education policy experts disagreeing on how to drive down costs. The legislative session will be interesting, to say the least.

I appreciate those of you who shared your concerns and priorities over the last couple of months. Please keep communicating! I will bring your hopes and concerns to our conversations in the legislature.  I have great faith in Vermonter's ability to work together and compromise to solve hard problems, once we put our minds to it. 

You will be hearing from me in the coming weeks about a new caucus I am involved in creating. The problem we will be trying to address is policy, rules and implementation based on a cauldron of excessive legislation, ideologies, bureaucracies, vested interests, political calculations and single-issue advocacy which combine to override the common good and common sense. Stay tuned.

Take care,

Rep Chris Morrow

morrowforvt@gmail.com