Dear Editor,
“Spoiler Alert; It doesn’t matter what Killington wants” was the title of the recent Jan. 24, 2024 Editorial by Polly Mikula in the Mountain Times. In the context of criticizing the Killington Select Board’s motion “to add an article [Article 5] to the Town Meeting Day ballot asking voters if they want to study the option of leaving the MVSU district and either pursuing school choice or designating Rutland middle school/high school,” it was stated, “who wouldn’t be for lower taxes.” That should read “who doesn’t want their taxes doubled or even tripled,” especially since Vermont per pupil spending is at or near the top in the country already and Woodstock is in the top 10 in Vermont. No one I have spoken to recently is comfortable with the crazy increases in the education taxes. There’s an 18% increase coming from the state and then 16% for the proposed new school. Never mind that with reassessment looming, virtually every property in Killington will exceed the $400,000 Homestead Exemption threshold above which qualifying properties will be taxed at the full rate. Even if you can afford those kinds of increases, they are appalling.
The state put a moratorium on funding school construction in part due to declining enrollment. State enrollment data shows a nearly 18% decline in total K-12 enrollment from 2008-2021. This trend certainly does not support creating more capacity.
For all the talk about increasing pupil counts I don’t see a whole lot of families with school age children moving to Killington given the sky high cost of real estate and the burgeoning taxes.
I’m all for education but a better solution needs to be found especially in light of the level of achievement by Woodstock students, Woodstock middle school/high school ranking No. 3 out of all Vermont high schools, according to the 2023-24 U.S. News and World Report rankings. Additionally, the report notes that the AP participation rate at Woodstock Union Middle/High School is 73%. It’s also the No.1 school in the state for college curriculum breadth and No. 2 for college readiness,” Mikula states. You would think the chamber of horrors that the school is described as would at least hinder students’ capability to focus and achieve such high standards.
Killington Selectman Jim Haff queried the Woodstock board whether they had a Plan B if the bond didn’t pass and got a negative response. He then stated if the bond doesn’t pass and there is no Plan B, we should consider the safety of our students if we have to send them to a school where foul mold-encrusted cinder blocks are falling through the ceiling, septic waste is oozing out of toilets and students have to wear jackets at near 66 degree classrooms (oh my). To this end he moved to put an article for the upcoming Town Meeting warning for a vote to consider withdrawal from the district and choose to either join another or school choice.
Whether or not this is political grandstanding it reflects the general tenor of Killington residents’ thought, who are weary of the continually rising education taxes and the radical changes they are going to have to make in their lives to manage them.
At a recent gathering I spoke to a number of people regarding this situation and the feedback was most people are going to leave town rather than throwing money into a ravenously insatiable black hole. Pretty soon there will be no community in Killington, just second homes and short-term rental properties (about a quarter of homes are already STRs). But I have feeling certain parties are counting on this happening as those properties’ non-resident owners don’t have a vote.
Already there is very little long-term rental housing, the local Vermont economy does not support the kind of income needed to buy a home in Killington’s current market. There already has been a significant exodus of locals in recent years between cashing out in the hot real estate market and exploding taxes. Now it looks like more people are going to be forced out with more ridiculously high taxes. Those properties will be gobbled up by second-home owners and STR operators and as a result will wipe out the current local community. Polly Mikula is right, it doesn’t matter what Killington wants. We are going to be forced to do what other communities want.
Vito Rasenas,
Killington
