Join us:
Screenings of the documentary "Just Getting By" and other events this fall at locations across the state.
See dates and times
See dates and times
One of the primary goals of Act 60, passed in 1997, was to ensure that Vermont provides substantially equal access to public education resources for all of the state’s children, regardless of the wealth of the community they live in. That is what the Supreme Court had required when it declared the previous financing system unconstitutional. Under Act 60 school tax rates on primary residences (or homesteads) in each town are determined by the amount of money the voters choose to spend per student. 1 The more spending per pupil, the higher the tax rate. And districts with the same per pupil spending have the same tax rates.
The statewide school tax rate on the fair market value of nonresidential property—land, business property, and second homes—is set by the Legislature each year and does not vary by town. The fiscal 2013 nonresidential property tax rate is $1.38.
Under Act 60—and the modifications adopted in 2003 under Act 68—many Vermonters are eligible to pay an income-based school tax, rather than the property tax on their primary residence and up to two acres of land. About two-thirds of Vermonters pay school taxes on their home this way. The same principle of taxpayer equity was built into the income-based school tax as with the property-based tax. The more spending per pupil in a town, the higher the income-based tax rate for that town. And districts with the same per pupil spending have the same income-based rates. 2
The relationship between residential tax rates and per pupil spending can be seen in this town2town map. As you hover your cursor over a town, you will see four figures for fiscal 2013 for that town:
Data source: Vermont Department of Education