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Keeping your community covered. We're committed to producing high-quality, fact-based news and information that gives you the facts in this community we call home. If our work has helped you stay informed, take action, or feel more connected to Windham County – please give now to help us reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31st.
The statewide education property tax could go up by 2 cents next year, according to preliminary estimates from the Joint Fiscal Office. The projected increase would push the residential rate to 89 cents, and the nonresidential rate to $1.38 for every $100 in property value.
The cost-driver for the increase is school spending. The Department of Education estimates that education expenditures could rise 1.7 percent this year.
The figures from the Joint Fiscal Office are preliminary and subject to change. The commissioner of the Department of Taxes will release a recommendation to the Legislature for the statewide property tax on Dec. 1.
The House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony on the Education Fund on Tuesday from Joint Fiscal. In addition to the spending uptick, there are two additional factors that could affect rates for certain classes of taxpayers. The state under statute must change the base per-pupil spending rate to reflect inflation over the last three years. It must also lower the statewide Grand List value to reflect the three-year rolling average decline in property values.
Gov. Peter Shumlin announced on Monday that the cost of repairing the damage to transportation infrastructure caused by Tropical Storm Irene will be about half what state officials originally estimated. Two weeks ago, Neale Lunderville, the Irene recovery czar, said preliminary “worst case” scenario estimates for transportation infrastructure repairs...
Rep. Oliver Olsen, R-Jamaica, announced last week that he will not be running for his seat in 2012. Olsen, 35, has been an outspoken and articulate critic of several Shumlin administration proposals, and he is described even by Democrats as a “rising star.” A year after winning his first...
Vermont will likely get a reprieve from the No Child Left Behind Act under new rules set by the Obama administration. Gov. Peter Shumlin sought a waiver from the federal law in September; the state has until February to develop a new plan for measuring school performance. Rae Ann Knopf, deputy commissioner of the Department of Education, told members of the State Board of Education that the federal law had set an “artificially high standard” based on student (and school)
If God helps those who helps themselves, Vermonters should be first in line for heavenly handouts (or at least disaster assistance from the feds). The state's residents, known for being a hardy lot, have proved their mettle over the last month as they have dug out of the mud, muck and debris left by Tropical Storm Irene. The storm struck Vermont Aug. 28 and dumped as much as 11 inches of rainfall on the Green Mountains in a 24-hour period.
Three weeks after Tropical Storm Irene whacked southern and central Vermont, local and federal officials are getting closer to a grand total for the damage. The price tag? Nearly $1 billion - so far. That estimate, which is roughly equivalent to the size of the state's annual General Fund budget, takes into account the total impact of Irene on state transportation infrastructure, the Waterbury state office complex, individual businesses, homes and municipal buildings and roads. Costs have continued to mount...
One down, one to go. Now that Route 9 has been reopened from Brattleboro to Bennington, the Vermont Agency of Transportation is turning its attention to the other main east-west corridor in southern Vermont damaged by Tropical Storm Irene - Route 4 Gov. Peter Shumlin announced at a press conference last Thursday that Route 4, which has bridge outages and sections of roadway that crumbled away when floodwaters scoured the region, would be open by the end of the week.
Gov. Peter Shumlin has asked former Douglas administration official Neale Lunderville to spearhead Vermont's recovery efforts in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene. Lunderville will be responsible for leading the immediate and short-term assistance efforts for families, businesses and communities. He will also be in charge of rebuilding state infrastructure and coordinating disaster response local, state and federal programs. Lunderville, an executive with Green Mountain Power and a former Douglas administration official, will take a four month leave of absence...
