Killington pitches tax reforms, secession plan
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By BRENDAN McKENNA Herald Staff - Published: February 10, 2006
Killington officials brought their complaints against the state education property tax to Montpelier in a two-pronged attack Thursday.
First, the House Ways and Means Committee heard Killington's town manager and two selectmen call for reforms to the Act 68 statewide education property tax system.
Then the House Government Operations Committee heard them call on the Legislature to move forward with the town's secession request.
Killington selectmen also met with House Speaker Gaye Symington, D-Jericho, and other legislators during their visit to Montpelier.
Government Operations is currently considering two bills that could allow Killington to secede from Vermont and become part of New Hampshire, which is about 30 miles away. The first, introduced by Rep. Richard Marron, R-Stowe, would set exit fees for any towns that leave the state.
The second, introduced by Rep. Harry Chen, D-Mendon, who also represents Killington, mirrors legislation Killington successfully lobbied to get adopted in New Hampshire. It would set up a commission to meet with New Hampshire officials to negotiate the terms of Killington's secession.
"We asked that they vote it out of committee," Killington Town Manager David Lewis said of Chen's proposal. "All it does is set up a commission — it doesn't send us to New Hampshire — to meet with the already-established commission from New Hampshire. We felt that would be a worthwhile discussion … that could show both states some good things the other is doing."
Lewis noted that Vermont and New Hampshire have drastically different approaches on education financing and how resort communities contribute to the whole.
"New Hampshire might be too little, Vermont is too much, but there must be something in the middle," he said. "We voted on it at town meeting two years in a row and the voters said twice that we should move ahead. … It would not be fair to have a bill submitted and then die in committee without a vote being held on it."
Norman Holcomb, chairman of the Killington Select Board, added that the town would welcome debate on either proposal.
"We asked that they recommend one or both for action," he said. "We would welcome (Marron's) bill be recommended for passage by the House so we could present our case … that the town of Killington contributes a great deal more to the state of Vermont than we receive. We would love to negotiate that."
Holcomb added that town officials also explained the history of their protests about education property taxes that led to the secession votes at town meeting.
Killington has seen its property taxes for education grow from $1.7 million in 1998 to about $10.2 million last year, just short of the $10.6 million raised by the city of Rutland, Holcomb said.
"We have 124 kids in our school system, and the city of Rutland has more than 2,000," he said. "That seems way out of proportion."
He added that the representatives on both committees listened politely, without rancorous comments.
"We didn't have anybody say, 'Oh, that's preposterous,'" Holcomb said. "We felt they were respectful. We were not expecting that."
Symington said she would wait for Government Operations to decide what to do about the secession proposal.
"I'm not going to block something, but I'm also not going to push something along," she said. "To the extent that what they're asking for is relief from the property tax burden and the pressure of increasing property values … I think they'll have a sympathetic ear in the Legislature."
She added, "But to the extent they're looking for provisions that would apply only to certain Vermonters who live in certain towns, that's not likely."
The speaker did take issue with Holcomb's comparison of education property taxes in Rutland and Killington.
"Towns don't pay taxes, individual taxpayers pay taxes," she said. "They're taxed on the value of their property and at a rate that reflects the spending per pupil in their town."
Rep. Michael Obuchowski, D-Rockingham, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he thought the conversation and suggestions Killington brought to his committee were productive.
"There are ideas that have been brought forward that need to be thought about and fleshed out more," Obuchowski said. "We're going to be proactive and tweak the (education property tax) system, but the level of tweaking is a function of how much time and political will we have."
He added, "In our hearts I think we'd prefer reform to tweaking, but some of our efforts this year are geared to being able to do reforms in the future."
The Killington delegation didn't completely escape teasing about their secession movement, Obuchowski noted.
"I did ask them if Vermont was successful in seceding from the union would they want to be part of Vermont or would they still want to be in New Hampshire," he said. "Everybody just laughed at that."
Contact Brendan McKenna at brendan.mckenna@rutlandherald.com.
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