By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the owner and publisher of the Addison Independent in Middlebury, a sister publication to the Mountain Times.  Lightning flashed outside my office window as weather forecasters were predicting two or more inches of rain, which got me reflecting on the $80 million to $90 million of federal…

By Doug Hoffer, Vermont State Auditor The 2024 legislative session started and finished the same way — with universal concern about significant looming educational tax increases. Original estimates indicated average property tax bills could rise 18.5% for the upcoming year. In the end, using one-time stop-gap funding that defers the financial reckoning to future years,…

By Don Tinney Editor’s note: Don Tinney is a longtime high school English teacher at BFA-St. Albans and now represents 13,000 educators as president of Vermont-NEA. No political insiders in Montpelier were surprised when Sen. Jane Kitchel condemned the Scott administration’s proposal to zero out the education fund reserves to provide short-term property tax relief,…

By Gov. Phil Scott Editor’s note: At his weekly press conference Wednesday, June 19 Governor Phil Scott addressed the impact the Legislature’s veto overrides will have on Vermont taxpayers, workers and families and their ability to afford to live in the state. What follows is a transcript of his remarks. The Legislature voted to override…

By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is publisher of the Addison Independent, a sister paper to the Mountain Times. On a few notable foreign policy issues, President Joe Biden, along with fellow Democrats and Progressives, need to reset their politics to match today’s reality. Specifically, how America manages immigration on its southern border needs…

By Allen Gilbert Editor’s note: Allen Gilbert is a former journalist, teacher and ACLU-VT executive director. He chaired his school board in Worcester when it joined the education funding lawsuit that resulted in the Brigham v. State decision by the Vermont Supreme Court in 1997. Gilbert is the author of “Equal Is Equal, Fair Is Fair,” a…

By Rep. Rebecca Holcombe Editor’s note: Holcombe is the state house representative for Windsor-Orange 2 and member of the Vermont House Appropriations Committee. She also served as the Vermont Secretary of Education 2014-2018. It’s groundhog day. Governor Scott vetoed the yield bill, again leaving Vermont school districts adrift. The reason: all the school budgets voters…

By Governor Phil Scott  Editor’s note: Governor Phil Scott gave the following speech at his weekly press conference, Wednesday, May 22, discussing his decision-making process with bills on his desk. Last week, I talked about all the bills that passed at the very end of the session, which are starting to head to my desk…

By Tom Evslin Editor’s note: Tom Evslin, of Stowe, is a retired high-tech entrepreneur. He served as transportation secretary for Gov. Richard Snelling and stimulus czar for Gov. Jim Douglas. The Vermont Legislature is playing an expensive shell game — and planning worse. The “equalized pupil” is the shell under which the pea is hidden.…

By David Bittersdorf Editor’s note: Dave Blittersdorf is the president of All Earth Renewables in Bristol. The Vermont General Assembly — in attempt to move the state to 100% renewable energy — is making changes to how the state’s utilities buy energy. Within the next couple of weeks, the Senate Natural Resources Committee will consider…

By Jack Hoffman Editor’s note: Jack Hoffman is Senior Analyst at Public Assets Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit organization based in Montpelier. He is a resident of Marshfield currently living in France. A projected jump in school taxes next year has everyone’s hair on fire in Montpelier. But before taking drastic action, legislators and the administration…

Select Board leaders choose to divert voter attention to a known dead-end instead of addressing hard choices for school facilities By Polly Mikula The Select Board meeting Monday night, Jan. 22, meant to inform voters about the proposed $99 million bond for a new middle school/high school, but instead sowed confusion. Instead of focusing on…

By John Gonter Editor’s note: John Gonter teaches cooking, foraging, fishing and hunter safety. He volunteers as an instructor with Vermont Fish & Wildlife. In Vermont, we are blessed with opportunities outside. Direct experience with our mountains, lakes, rivers, fields and forests are restorative, develop our outdoor skills and reduce our stress. Our modern lives,…

  Understanding the Dec. 1 property tax letter By Kathleen James Editor’s note: Rep. Kathleen James, D-Manchester, serves as assistant majority leader in the Vermont House.  On the last day of November, the annual “Dec. 1 Letter” was published by the Vermont Department of Taxes.  This year’s letter landed with a bang, as Tax Commissioner Craig Bolio…

  By Rep. Erin Brady, Rep. Rebecca Holcombe and Rep. Monique Priestley Editor’s note: Rep. Erin Brady, of Williston, is an active public school teacher; Rep. Rebecca Holcombe of Windsor-Orange 2, is the former Vermont Secretary of Education; and Rep. Monique Priestley, of Orange-2, is the tri-partisan Rural Caucus clerk. Governor Scott recently described an…