By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org
The Shumlin administration has recommended a 2 cent increase in the statewide property tax rates for residential and commercial property for fiscal year 2016.
Last year, property tax rates increased by 4.5 cents for homestead and 7 cents for nonresidential real estate for every $100 of assessed value. The previous year’s rates went up by 5 cents for both residential and commercial property.
A penny on the statewide tax rate raises about $11 million.
The Vermont Agency of Education projects that school spending will increase by 3.09 percent in the coming year. The grand list, or the total value of the state’s real estate, is expected to increase by 0.3 percent, according the the Vermont Department of Taxes.
Gov. Peter Shumlin said at a news conference Monday, Nov. 29, that “shifting more education spending to other sources will not address the burden Vermonters feel.”
“We need to tackle this first as a spending challenge because education costs have continued to rise faster than Vermonters’ ability to pay for it, even though our student count has declined,” Shumlin said.
