FRANKLIN COUNTY — This week, the Vermont House passed H.887, or the Yield Bill. It’s routine legislation, but this year, it’s anything but ordinary. 

The legislature passes such a bill annually to set the education tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year. But now, if H.887 passes the senate and gets the governor’s approval, rates will increase 15 or 18% on July 1 depending on your property type. 

State officials argue that much of an increase is needed because education spending as a whole in Vermont is up an estimated 18%. Why? Major cost variables include overdue renovations to school buildings, an increased need for student mental health support and competitive pay for teachers to help with recruitment and retention.  

Meanwhile, this past Town Meeting Day, the majority of school districts in Franklin County failed to get voter-approval of their fiscal year 2025 budgets. Maple Run Unified School District was successful, but only by 55 votes, the closest margin in the district’s history. 

“I think what we’re seeing here is an old-fashioned taxpayer revolt,” Rep. Carolyn Branagan (R-Georgia) told the Messenger. “People are trying to send the legislature a message that they don’t have any more money.” 

But is anyone in Montpelier listening? 

In Branagan’s opinion, her committee, House Ways and Means, should have found more ways in H.887 to boost the state education fund while alleviating the strain on taxpayers. 

“To my great regret, we didn’t put any structural reform in that bill,” Branagan said. “There’s no long-term cost containment.” 

What’s in the Yield Bill 

What is in the bill, besides the new tax rates, are two new tax increases and the creation of the Commission on the Future of Education. To be made up of the Secretary of Education, five legislators, three superintendents, representatives from the Vermont-NEA and others, the commission is expected to study educational delivery and methods to fund it. 

The commission will report its findings and recommendations to the legislature in December 2025. Rep. Ashley Bartley (R-Fairfax) said this isn’t a solution; it only kicks the can further down the road. 

“I’ve come to recognize a pattern; both the House and Senate often opt to form commissions or conduct studies rather than tackling difficult or contentious issues head-on,” she told the Messenger. “These studies remain on the wall collecting dust.”

The Yield Bill, as passed by the House, also proposes two new taxes. The “cloud tax” will add Vermont’s 6% sales tax to software downloaded over the Internet, and an additional 1.5% tax to short-term rentals. Together, those two taxes are estimated to raise $27 million annually for the education fund. 

On the House floor Wednesday, Rep. Casey Toof (R-St. Albans Town) proposed allowing those new taxes for one year only, as he thinks they are not long-term solutions. 

“By putting a sunset on these two taxes…we’ll send a message to this commission that they need to come up with a solution fast,” Toof said. “We owe it to our property taxpayers and we owe it to our students.” 

The Yield Bill passed; Toof’s amendment did not. It now heads to the Senate. 

What voters are saying 

In the last two months, both Georgia and Fairfax’s school budgets for the upcoming year have failed twice. They’ll each make third attempts to pass budgets – Georgia on May 2 and Fairfax on June 4. 

John Tague, superintendent of the Franklin West Supervisory Union (to which both schools belong), said the increases to the Georgia Elementary and Middle School and BFA-Fairfax budgets this year primarily stem from a 16% jump in health insurance costs for staff. 

Beyond that, the budgets are “fiscally responsible,” he said, while still providing important instructional opportunities and extracurricular activities. 

But many voters want to see more substantial cuts, hoping to bring down those expected tax increases without help from the legislature. 

“We are retired and this is our home, and it is not that we don’t want the best for our school and community, but we can’t afford all this spending,” Fairfax resident Dawn Rabideau said. “People are struggling now. Why make it even harder?” 

“If I have to make significant cuts in my life, then I expect to see the same in the schools,” Fairfax resident Lucas Coon said. 

For the revote on May 2, the Georgia school board heard similar concerns and is pitching staffing changes that eliminate a further $247,775 from the $17 million budget. The new proposal eliminates a custodian, library paraprofessional and two other paraprofessionals. 

Georgia resident and PTO secretary Jessica Denton supported the initial budget on Town Meeting Day and disagrees with these new cuts. 

“Education is foundational,” she said. “I value the education GEMS provides our youth. …What happens when we cut roles, as we have this round, is we struggle to get them back.” 

Over in Fairfax, the school board has published a survey to gather feedback from voters on its budget. Board chair Tammy Revoir said only 11 people showed up to its latest informational meeting, so the board hopes the survey will gather more voices and provide a jumping off point for potential solutions. 

“Our next meeting, we’ll look at the results of the survey and the administration will come in with proposals of places they are willing to take a risk, and we’ll have a discussion,” Revoir said. “There’s nothing easy to cut…but we’re going to have to.” 

Some Fairfax voters feel especially pinched because they approved a $36 million bond last year to make needed renovations to BFA-Fairfax. Voters will be paying off the bond for the next 30 years, adding further increases to their property taxes. 

Still others will support the school no matter the cost. 

“Am I a huge fan of both the bond and a $19 million budget? No, but we are talking kids,” Fairfax resident Russ Crowe said. “I feel we have to support the schools.”

Early solutions 

So what’s the solution? 

Many towns across Franklin County and the state would benefit from their grand lists being re-appraised. In Vermont, the Common Level of Appraisal ensures people contribute fairly to the state’s education fund based on the assessed value of their home. 

Problem is, a strong real estate market in Vermont has many homes’ fair market value set higher than they are appraised for in the town’s books. A CLA number less than 100% indicates property is generally listed for less than its fair market value. In St. Albans City, for example, the CLA is 64%. In Georgia, it’s 73%.

“Even if the school board does a good job and doesn’t have a lot of new spending, property tax payers are still going to have to pay a high tax because of the CLA,” Branagan said. 

Some voters, like Christine Galuszka of Georgia, understand that predicament, and aren’t faulting the school board for the hike in taxes. 

“Knowing that the largest part of the budget increase is beyond the control of our board, I believe they are doing the best that they can to keep spending reasonable,” she said. 

Towns do have money from the state to pay for these reassessments, but because of the high demand, assessors are booking years out. 

In the statehouse, some legislators are hoping that Commission on the Future of Education will bring new funding ideas to the table next year. Others, like Branagan, already have some potential suggestions. 

After doing some of her own research, she’s interested in re-evaluating the Agency of Education’s class size standards. Adding more students to each classroom could have educational and cost-saving advantages. 

Bartley wants to see fewer unfunded education mandates like Universal School Meals and driver’s education, which place additional strain on the state education fund and individual school budgets. 

At a St. Albans City Council meeting earlier this year, Rep. Mike McCarthy (D-St. Albans City) alluded to further school consolidation as a solution, as the state’s smallest schools take sizable bites out of the state education fund. 

“I think we can figure out for ourselves what the taxpayers want and what direction we should go,” Branagan said.

The Vermont House on Thursday passed a bill that expands educational opportunities for refugees and other New Americans.

The legislation eliminates a one-year residency requirement for individuals to be eligible for grants from the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation.

New Americans is a term that refers to recent arrivals in Vermont or other states. Last year, an estimated 500 refugees relocated to Vermont.

More from Vermont Public: Who’s a ‘New American’? Unpacking the phrase and its use in Vermont

House Education Chair Rep. Peter Conlon, a Democrat from Addison County, told his colleagues that the grants will make it possible for residents to immediately begin their workforce training.

“Vermont needs 10,000 more people tomorrow to fill open jobs, and there’s no way to accomplish that without immigration — to help our New Americans see Vermont as a place that is willing to invest in them and help them lay down roots that will benefit us all for years to come,” Conlon said.

More from Vermont Public: New Americans in Vermont could access education grants sooner under new legislation

Advocates who work with refugees in Vermont said the current one-year residency requirement delays access to opportunities that can help New Americans thrive in their new communities.

The bill has already passed the Senate.

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April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

In 2022, Vermont law enforcement officials reported 233 incidents of rape and 238 related offenses to the FBI. Though because not all sexual assault crimes are reported, those figures are likely under-representative.

But survivors are not alone. For the past half-century, Burlington-based HOPE Works has provided counsel and resources to survivors of sexual violence. The nonprofit is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month.

Natania Carter is the executive director of HOPE Works, and she joined Vermont Public’s Jenn Jarecki to discuss the anniversary. This piece was produced for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio, if you’re able. We’ve also provided a written version.

Jenn Jarecki: 50 years is impressive. Talk to us about how HOPE Works first got started.

Natania Carter: Our founders were this group of women who literally took over a switchboard on the UVM campus and realized that there was a need for survivors to be able to call in. It was a switchboard that was around women’s health, and within that, there was nowhere for survivors of any type of sexual violence to speak up and have a space to just talk without their veracity being questioned. Even now, there are very few spaces where survivors can talk about one of their most vulnerable moments without it becoming about victim blaming, about safety planning, about what could have or could not have been done and how believable or truthful they are.

Jenn Jarecki: I’m curious, Natania, what do you think, how has the landscape for the work that HOPE Works does changed in the last 50 years?

Natania Carter: I think a lot of education around consent has come through. I know it’s scary around these times because of so many rights being taken away from folks, our abilities to make decisions about our bodies — which is not only just gender — that moves across so many people trying to make the right decisions about their body in having to navigate other… I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this, I’m sorry, but other people’s ethical or moral beliefs.

But at the same time, what I will say is that education around consent — watching parents now literally tell people, ‘No, my 3-year-old does not want to hug you,’ it brightens my outlook on what comes next. We always fall into this idea that we have to teach the youth and the youth, but I’m like actually, prevention, education, consent really also is, it needs to be available for adults also, adults need to engage in these services because it is highly unlikely that we know everything that we should know when it comes to sustaining healthy relationships.

Jenn Jarecki: The past 50 years haven’t all gone smoothly for HOPE Works. In 2019, the entire eight person staff resigned over actions the board was considering taking with the organization’s land. Staffers posted online that it was part of a long-term effort to counteract intolerance, racism and homophobia among organization leaders. I’m hoping you can talk to us about the lasting impacts of those departures on the organization.

Natania Carter: All things can be true. So, here’s all the things that I can tell you I have observed. One, it really — for those who understood what they were standing up for, they still showed up for survivors even if it meant it was one person for more than a month holding down that hotline by themselves. And then honoring, doing my best to honor the sacrifice also at the same time of those who left. So, really working hard to prove that organizations — and it doesn’t matter if they’re nonprofit or municipalities, it doesn’t matter — trying to prove that dismantling white supremacist practices in organizations is possible. And though it won’t look the way that people want it to look, if we do it, though, then that means every single individual will be seen as a person and not as a cog for productivity purposes, meaning that we’ll be able to hold space for them when they’re struggling, and in our work, vicarious trauma is real.

Jenn Jarecki: Tonight marks the annual Take Back the Night event. Natania, can you tell us more about that?

Natania Carter: Yes! This event is to stand with survivors. It happens every year, the fourth Thursday of April, Sexual Violence Awareness Month. We start out at the Royale Tyler Theatre on the UVM campus. At 5 o’clock we march down — well, they rally, and then they march down to City Hall, down Church Street, Contois [Auditorium]. And after that, around 6:30, we start a speak out, and people can show up as themselves. They can bring every part of themselves except their profession. They leave their profession at the door, because the only way to honor a survivor who may want to share their experiences is to honor their confidentiality, and we will escort people out if you bring your profession. But other than that, people who support survivors can come, survivors are welcome to come. And that is usually from 6:30 to 8:30 or until the candles blow out, basically. Until there’s no one — there’s nothing left for anyone to say.

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