On November 5, 2014

Oppose the option tax

Dear Editor,

While I applaud Killington’s plans for its expansion plans for summer business, I do not think it should be in any way contingent on the 1 percent option tax.

A large percentage of the Killington residents are retirees with fixed incomes who moved here when property taxes were low and the decreases in the population are a testament to the increased property taxes already in place.

Not one person that I have spoken to about this issue is in favor of abolishing this 1 percent option tax.

Why should my property taxes be increased to pay for Killington’s improvements? Excuse the sarcasm, but I don’t remember Killington offering a profit sharing plan to residents; and summer business really has no impact on real estate prices to home owners, no matter what they are

trying to sell.

Those of us, a good percentage in our late 60s and 70s, are interested in NOW; we still have a $5 million golf course debt and we are talking about a new fire house. Is the Killington management dreaming? (By the way, how many of the management live in Killington and would have to personally pay these additional property taxes?)

As I said, I have spoken to many registered voters and not one person is in favor of doing away with the option tax at this time  and I intend to speak to them all. This must not happen.

Between 25 and 40 houses are on the market in Killington now due to the high property taxes, so there is no way the community is going to support any move that requires us to pay more property taxes.

I encourage all residents to voice their opinions now so it doesn’t even appear on the warning for the March meeting.

Diane Scappaticci Rosenblum, Killington

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Study reveals flaws with “Best Practices” for trapping

July 24, 2024
Dear Editor, A new peer reviewed paper, “Best Management Practices for Furbearer Trapping Derived from Poor and Misleading Science,” was recently published and debunks Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s  attempt to convince the public that “Best Management Practices” for trapping result in more humane trapping practices. They don’t. In 2022 there was a bill to ban leghold traps—a straight-forward bill that…

Criminalization is not a solution to homelessness

July 24, 2024
By Frank Knaack and Falko Schilling Editor’s note: This commentary is by Frank Knaack, executive director of the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont, and Falko Schilling, advocacy director of the ACLU of Vermont. Homelessness in Vermont is at its highest level on record, as more people struggle to afford sky high-rents and housing costs. According…

Open Primaries: Free andfair elections?

July 24, 2024
Dear Editor, I don’t know where the idea of open primaries came from or the history of how they began in Vermont. I was originally from Connecticut and when you registered to vote you had to declare your party affiliation. Only if you were registered in a political party, could you take part in that…

The arc of agingand leadership

July 24, 2024
By Bill Schubart Like a good novel, our lives have a narrative arc, during which we are actively participating in and relevant to our world. We are born, rise slowly into sensual consciousness and gradually process what we see and feel. Our juvenile perceptions gradually become knowledge, and, if all goes well, that knowledge binds…