497 results found for "tax flight"

Property tax relief for Vermonters: three-part plan

…the system much fairer and simpler for taxpayers, providing needed property tax relief for next year—fiscal 2026—and addressing the longer-term issues of school costs and tax fairness in subsequent years….

State and local taxes as a share of family income, by tax and quintile, 2024

• Vermont is one of the few states where the tax system does not make inequality worse
• The system is mostly progressive but still regressive at the top, meaning the highest-income Vermonters pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than many middle-class Vermonters
• Sales taxes tend to be the most regressive, although Vermont exempts many necessities like food, clothing and prescriptions
• Vermont’s income tax is progressive
• Property taxes tend to be regressive but Vermont’s is progressive at the low end because of income sensitivity in school taxes

Ed Funding 101 (and what happened in FY25)

…It hasn’t felt that way lately, because there are pockets of inequities that hit some taxpayers and some districts more than others. Public Assets’ Executive Director explains the fundamentals of…

Childhood poverty, New England, 2021-2023

New Census data offer proof that federal and state governments can significantly reduce child poverty. Almost 9 percent of Vermont’s kids lived in poverty, according to the three-year average of the federal official poverty measure for 2021-2023. However, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)—which factors in state and federal government programs such as universal school meals, food and utility assistance, and the child tax credit—came in 3 percentage points lower, at less than 6 percent for the same period. The difference in poverty rates was evident across New England, where anti-poverty programs are generally strong. In Vermont, the 3-percentage-point difference between the two measures accounted for roughly 3,000 children.

Public programs lifted 3,000 Vermont kids out of poverty

…utility assistance, and the child tax credit—came in 3 percentage points lower, at less than 6 percent for the same period. The difference in poverty rates was evident across New…

Vermont education funding appropriations, adjusted for inflation, 2005-2025

Adjusted for inflation, education spending was flat from fiscal 2005 to fiscal 2024, according to the Legislature’s joint fiscal office. And while the number of students (long-term average daily membership) has declined over that period, again after adjusting for inflation, the average annual increase in per-pupil spending was less than 1 percent per year.

Vermonters can pay school taxes based on income or property value, many pay some of each

There are also inequities in who pays school taxes. Vermont’s funding system gives resident homeowners the option to pay school taxes based on their income or the value of their homes. Built into the system are thresholds on income and home values that require some low- and moderate-income people to pay both a school income tax and property taxes on a portion of their home’s value. 

The thresholds create tax “cliffs,” where an extra dollar of income or a property reappraisal can have disproportional tax consequences. The thresholds have not been raised or adjusted for inflation in years. And because incomes and property values have grown, more and more Vermonters are hitting these cliffs. Homeowners who cross the $47,000 income threshold can see a school tax increase of 10, 15, 25 percent or more. A family with a $350,000 home that crosses the $90,000 income threshold could see a 70 percent jump in school taxes. 

Data source: 32 V.S.A. § 6066

 

Mental and behavioral health positions, Vermont school districts, FY2022 to FY2025

Mental health providers and services are unevenly available around the state. That means some schools have to hire their own specialists at higher costs than districts that can contract with local providers. And the demand for mental health positions has more than quadrupled in the last three years, compounding the impact. 

Data source: Vermont Agency of Education

There’s more to school tax increases than spending

…both a school income tax and property taxes on a portion of their home’s value. The thresholds create tax “cliffs,” where an extra dollar of income or a property reappraisal…

Education funding: The three cliffs problem

…taxes are calculated. There are certain details that are not addressed here, such a cap on property tax credits, which can limit the tax reduction in property taxes, or the…

Campaigns

…the Public in Public Education Good public schools, fair taxes, and a say in both Vermonters need property tax relief, and we don’t want cuts, privatization, or school consolidation forced…

Migration to and from Vermont, by income, 2020 and 2021

About a decade ago, the IRS also began tracking migration by the age and income of the primary tax filer. For 2021, Vermont saw a net increase in all age brackets except filers under age 26. (Again, the IRS reports only the primary filer’s age, not the ages of everyone who migrated in and out.) In 2021 Vermont also netted an increase in the number of tax filers in all but the lowest income bracket (less than $10,000 a year). The biggest gains occurred in the highest tax brackets, as has been true over the last decade.

But the age and income information is separate from information about which states people move to or from. So we can know either the age and income of filers or the states they left, but not both at the same time. For example, we know that 1,100 filers with incomes of $200,000 or more moved to Vermont in 2021, but we don’t know where they came from. And we can’t tell where the 35-44-year-olds went after leaving Vermont.