Research & Publications

American Rescue Plan brings $200 million to Vermont towns and villages

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), passed in March 2021, earmarked $76.6 million for Vermont’s local governments, and another $121 million for county government. Because Vermont counties have limited roles, the feds redirected the dollars to towns and villages. Local governments can use money through the end of 2024 to help pay for government services; direct assistance to households, small businesses, and non-profits for COVID-related costs; premium pay to essential workers; and infrastructure investments.

Funds will be distributed in two equal payments, at least 12 months apart. Towns and villages have already received the first payments from both grants. See the map for the total grants towns will receive over the next two years. See the table for information on village allocations.

town2town: 3 Vermont school tax questions answered

Vermont’s education funding system is built on fairness for students, fairness for taxpayers, and local control. The statewide tax base supports school spending voted by each community. Each school district in Vermont sets its own budget and spending per pupil on or around Town Meeting Day. And all school taxes go into a single pot, the Education Fund. The Legislature sets a school tax rate schedule that applies to primary residences in all towns, so residents know their school tax rates based on their town’s voted per-pupil education spending.

There are two rates—one based on the value of the home and the other based on household income. Residents can choose the better deal for them, and most Vermonters pay the income rate for all or some of their school taxes. Towns with more spending per pupil have higher tax rates; those with less spending per pupil have lower rates; and towns with the same per-pupil spending have the same rates.

The system effectively equalizes the taxing power of all communities. Regardless of the actual wealth of any community, every town has to make the same tax effort—i.e. have the same tax rates—for each $1 of funding it votes per pupil.

Below are an interactive map and charts showing school income and property tax rates for all towns from school year 2012-13 to 2020-21. Select a town and year and see the current rates and spending relative to other towns, and how those rates have changed over time.

Per-Pupil Education Spending and Tax Rates, Fiscal 2016

After the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that the state’s school funding system was unconstitutional in 1997, the Legislature re-built the system on a fundamental fairness principle: school districts that spend the same amount per pupil have the same tax rates.

The old system wasn’t fair. Some towns had extremely low tax rates, but easily raised more money per pupil than most communities in the state. Meanwhile, towns with the highest tax rates raised far less per pupil than the average school district.

The current funding system creates a single, statewide tax base that all towns and school districts draw on. All non-residential property is taxed at the one rate statewide. Tax rates for primary residences vary by town with spending per pupil.

Per-Pupil Education Spending and Tax Rates, Fiscal 2015

Vermont’s education funding system ensures that all students, regardless of the wealth of their communities, have equal access to money to support their education. The state could simply allocate the same amount of money for every student. But Vermont has a long tradition of local control, which would disappear if spending decisions were dictated from […]

Where employment rose—or didn’t, 2007 to 2013

In 2013, there were still fewer Vermonters employed than in 2007, before the recession took hold. That’s true in about two-thirds of Vermont towns. But for the residents of the remaining third, employment was higher than in 2007. As the map shows, many of the towns where employment rose were in the northern tier of […]

Per-Pupil Education Spending and Tax Rates, Fiscal 2014

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 required when it declared the previous financing system unconstitutional. […]

Where the licensed child care is—and isn’t—2013

Vermont has about 680 licensed child care providers, but they are not evenly distributed throughout the state. Several communities, especially in the Northeast Kingdom, have none. Vermont does not yet collect data on the number of children enrolled at child care facilities. However, the state does determine the capacity—meaning the size and appropriate setup—of each […]

Family Income Rose in 2011

Vermont median family income—half of families earn more than the median and half earn less—rose 2.9 percent in 2011, according to the latest data from the Vermont Tax Department. But the change in median income varied from town to town. In a quarter of Vermont towns, the median family income went down, while three-quarters of […]

Unemployment in 2012

Vermont’s average annual unemployment rate was down to 5 percent in 2012 from 5.6 percent in 2011, and unemployment dropped in more than four out of five Vermont towns. Still, the latest data from the Vermont Department of Labor show 113 towns with unemployment rates higher than the statewide rate in 2012. The lowest town […]

The Earned Income Tax Credit

Almost 45,000 Vermont families, with nearly 50,000 children, qualified for the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in 2011, according to the most recent statistics. Like the federal EITC, the Vermont credit is designed to help low-wage workers. National studies have shown the EITC to be one of the most effective anti-poverty programs. The amount […]

Vermont school enrollment: Equalized pupils 2003-2013

The amount that a school district spends per pupil determines its school tax rates. School districts with the same per pupil spending have the same tax rates. That is why an independent analysis concluded last January that Vermont’s school financing system “has achieved a high degree of equity.” When calculating spending per student, Vermont uses […]

Per Pupil Education Spending and Tax Rates, Fiscal 2013

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 […]

School Taxes Based on Income, 2012

Since the passage of Act 60 in 1997, Vermont residents have had two options for calculating their school taxes. On their primary residence and up to two acres of land, the school tax can be based on the property value or on their household income. While the Legislature has made changes over the years and […]

For many, the cupboard is still bare

The number of Vermonters needing help putting food on the table continued to climb in 2011. From December 2010 to December 2011, households participating in Vermont’s 3SquaresVT program increased by 7.4 percent. Since the Great Recession hit in December 2007, the number of households getting food stamps has risen 90 percent. More than 48,000 households, […]

Joblessness in 2011

Vermont’s average annual unemployment rate dropped in 2011, to 5.6 percent. The decrease was seen across most of the state. But about a quarter of Vermont towns (23 percent) saw unemployment rise last year. Average rates ranged from 0 percent in Averill and Buel’s Gore to more than 22 percent in Norton, according to the […]

What Families Earned in 2010

The typical Vermont family had less buying power in 2010 than it did a decade earlier, according to the latest data from the Vermont Tax Department. The adjusted gross income for the median family—half of families earn more, half less—was $57,655 in 2010, the data show. In 2000, the department calculated median family income at […]

School Taxes Based on Income, 2011

Since 1998, Vermont residents have had two options for calculating the school taxes on their primary residence. They may base their payment either on the value of their home or on their household income, whichever is less. Over the years, the Legislature has limited eligibility for paying based on income. 1 But most Vermonters still […]

Where the Roads Go

It’s hard not to be awestruck by the damage Irene did to Vermont’s roads and bridges. It’s also been sobering to see how much disruption the loss of key public infrastructure can wreak in business and everyday life. Vermont has more than 14,000 miles of roads throughout the state. The state highway system comprises about […]

Where Vermonters are Working,
Where They’re Not

Statewide, Vermont’s annual average unemployment rate in 2010 was 6.2 percent. That was the second-lowest rate in New England—just behind New Hampshire—and 3.4 percentage points below the national average last year. But not all Vermont towns are doing as well as the state average. According to data from the Vermont Department of Labor, the average […]

Getting to the Polls

Vermont’s voter registration is good: about 90 percent of the voting-age population. But turnout isn’t so hot. In the general election last fall, just 54 percent of registered voters cast ballots, according to data collected by the Secretary of State. In individual towns, the turnout ranged from 33 percent to 76 percent. The latest town2town […]

Federal Stimulus Money at Work

Vermont has been awarded $991 million in contracts, grants, and loans since February 2009 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), commonly known as federal stimulus funding. According to the latest information from Recovery.gov, the official website for tracking ARRA funds, nearly sixty percent of the Vermont awards had been paid out by the […]

More Vermonters Are Relying on 3SquaresVT

The number of Vermonters relying on foods stamps has more than doubled in the last six years. Some of the increase was due to a change in rules that allowed more people to qualify for 3SquaresVT, Vermont’s food stamp program. But the recession also has been a big factor in the increase. In December 2007, […]

Family Median Adjusted Gross Income

Vermont has long had a progressive income tax. On the principle that those who benefit most from society should pay more to support it and also that those with greater means can afford to pay more, Vermont taxes higher levels of income at progressively higher rates. The U.S. Census estimates incomes by surveying small samples […]

Income-based School Tax Map

Many Vermonters have a choice when it comes to calculating their school taxes. For the taxes on their primary residence and up to two acres of land, they can either pay a property tax based on the tax rate for their school district or pay a percentage of their household income. While all school taxes […]

Effective State Income Tax Map

Vermont has a progressive income tax system: the tax rate increases as income increases. For example, income up to $56,700 is taxed at 3.55 percent, but income between $56,700 and $137,050 is taxed at a higher rate. There are three more rates for income in higher tiers. These rates apply to taxable income—that is, after […]