On December 15, 2015

Commissioner of Taxes releases forecasts related to education tax rates

On Tuesday, Dec. 1, Commissioner of Taxes Mary Peterson released forecasts related to Vermont education tax rates for the upcoming fiscal year, FY2017. The statutorily required forecasts are a joint effort between the Agency of Education, Department of Taxes, and Joint Fiscal Office.

This year the forecast shows that the projected average homestead property tax rate will rise by 1 cent to $1.535 per $100. The projected average nonresidential property tax rate will rise by three tenths of one cent to $1.538. The projected average income rate will go down slightly from 2.74 percent in FY2016 to 2.72 percent in FY2017. The average tax bill for all three types of payers is projected to increase 1.12 percent.

Last year the average statewide property tax for residents rose 2.5 cents and the nonresidential rate rose by 2 cents. The year before the average residential property rate rose by 9 cents and the non-residential rate rose by 7.5 cents.

Act 46 of 2015 changed the structure of the annual forecasting requirement. Instead of presenting rates, the letter forecasts the property dollar equivalent yield and the income dollar equivalent yield. The homestead property tax rate is set in statute at $1.00 per $100 of equalized property value for FY2017 and all subsequent years. Similarly, the rate for those paying on income is 2 percent beginning in FY2017. The nonresidential rate is still a traditional rate that needs to be calculated annually with reference to the yields.

Vermont continues to experience an increase in education spending with a decrease in equalized pupil counts. The Agency of Education predicts Vermont will have 591 fewer equalized pupils in FY2017. While any growth in spending coupled with declining enrollment is concerning, school spending is expected to increase by only 2.5 percent for FY2017. The projected growth in the FY2016 letter was over 3 percent.

With all contributing factors as they appear on Dec. 1, 2015, the property yield, income yield, and nonresidential rate are forecasted to be the following: $9,955 (property yield); $11,157 (income yield); and $1.538 (nonresidential rate).

“It is important to remember that these projected yields, rates and bills are all based on forecasts and averages,” stated Commissioner Mary Peterson. “Taxpayers may see more significant changes due to local decisions.”

Those decisions may include taking advantage of accelerated merger incentives, or exceeding the district’s allowable growth rate.

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Are Hartland planners tilting at windmills?

December 4, 2024
Hartland Planning Commission takes prosed 9,000-square-foot Sunnymede market to state Supreme Court By Curt Peterson Miguel Cervantes, author of the Spanish classic novel “Don Quixote,” once said: “In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd.”  Cervantes’s Quixote, who had a questionable grasp of reality, donned a suit of armor and rode the…

Select Board considers ways to fix Quechee Road

December 4, 2024
By Curt Peterson The Hartland Select Board has to make an important decision before the deadline to publish the Town Report and the articles for Town Meeting in March 2025. The first rough estimate to rebuild Quechee Road, a major route from Hartland Three Corners to Quechee, was $6.5 million. An engineering report from Pathways…

Mountain Views SU discusses $2.5 million budget cuts, tax impacts

December 4, 2024
By Polly Mikula On Monday, Dec. 2, the Mountain Views Supervisory Union met to discuss a proposed $2.5 million budget cut.  “These cuts were necessary to stay under the penalty threshold,” Superintendent Sherry Sousa explained. “The proposed cuts are across all schools and the central office,” she said.  The proposed budget is just below the…

Shiffrin’s crash hushed Killington’s record-breaking crowd

December 4, 2024
By Polly Mikula For the eighth time the women’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup came to Killington Resort over Thanksgiving weekend. The first day of racing, a Giant Slalom on Saturday, was marked by a combination of jubilation and heartbreak as U.S. Ski team members Nina O’Brien and Paula Moltzan posted their best World Cup…