Dear Editor, Attention Killington taxpayers and residents: on Tuesday, March 7, you will be asked to vote “yes” or “no” to a potential Act 46 merger of our local school board into a new consolidated board consisting of members from other towns in our present supervisory union. After 18 months of meetings to explore this…

Dear Editor, In addition to voting to sunset the 1 percent local sales option tax, which I wrote about last week, I believe our town should also support the financial investment of contributing to hosting future World Cup events. In November of this year, one of our town and Killington Resort’s proudest moments occurred, when the…

Dear Editor, The proposal to eliminate the sales tax portion of the options tax that is being put before the voters should not be approved at this time. Revenue from this tax is reducing the burden imposed by the education tax in a manner that was anticipated by the state legislature at the time the…

Dear Editor, Town Meeting Day is March 7, and for a number of towns the ballot will include next fiscal year’s budget. If you’ve been following the budget wrangles recently in Rutland city, budgets are no small matter for city hall, department heads and taxpayers. I understand how budgets can be helpful tools for managing…

By Mike Solimano “The 1 percent local option sales tax component of the options tax contributes approximately $400,000 to $500,000 to the annual General Fund budget. Who do you think is going to make that up if it is rescinded? You and me in our property taxes. As it is, we have an increase this…

Dear Editor, In response to last week’s letter to the editor from Diane Scappaticci Rosenblum regarding the local option sales tax vote to rescind. First I’d like to start off by saying I have a lot of respect and regard for Mrs. Rosenblum, so Diane, please don’t take this as an attack. While reading your…

Dear editor, More than 480,000 people in the United States will die this year from a tobacco-related disease. Each day, more than 1,000 kids become new, regular smokers; roughly one-third of them will die prematurely from a tobacco-related disease. On March 15, 2017, Kick Butts Day, thousands of young people and adults across the country…

Dear Editor, My name is Jim Haff. Around four months ago I was appointed to be the chair of the finance committee. I’ve worked hard with both principals at the middle and high schools and Richard Seaman, director of finance and operations for the Windsor Central Supervisory Union. The total proposed budget for FY18, $11,698,853,…

Dear editor, If the audacious come-from-behind win pulled off by the New England Patriots at this year’s Super Bowl has taught us anything, it is that no matter what, we should never stop believing in our abilities to succeed, even in the face of overwhelming odds. This win is one for the ages; and without…

Dear editor, Despite the various and differing views printed here on a weekly basis, our community has come a long way to come together in a short few years. In the early 2000s our town identified a problem in Killington. Simply put, our community was not united. We were lacking a sense of community in…

Dear editor, Raising the minimum wage is not a new idea. But we need to get serious now. There is a bill before the legislature that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. There are many benefits to this. It would help Vermont workers. It would help families. It would help the…

By Lyle Jepson and Mary Cohen Imagine a future for Rutland County in which young families move into efficient new homes close to high-paying advanced manufacturing jobs … recent college graduates shop downtown for “first day of work” wardrobes before starting jobs with local companies where they worked as student interns. … construction workers in…

The average nondegree grant is $1,800 By Scott Giles  Governor Phil Scott’s budget request to invest an additional $1 million in the nondegree grant program will pay off in real opportunities for Vermonters who need education and training for jobs that are waiting to be filled.  In fact, over the next decade, seven out of…

By Jon Margolis, VTDigger Vermont offers its citizens more opportunity to “access the American dream” than any other state. Vermont is one of the poorest states in the Union. Can both those judgements be correct? No. One of them must be wrong. Maybe both of them. But just look where they come from. They seem so … so…

Editors note: the following is an open letter to Ernie Herrman, CEO and president of TJMaxx Dear Mr. Herrman, I am writing to tell you that I have stopped shopping in TJMaxx stores since the election in November of 2016. That is when I became aware that you carry Ivanka accessories.  I’m sure that you…