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Businesses and ski areas urge the Ways & Means Committee to treat resorts within broader commercial category
Summary
The Vermont Chamber and Ski Vermont urged lawmakers to avoid singling out ski areas with a separate 'resort' tax classification, arguing it would create a narrow, weather-sensitive tax base and recommending resorts be treated as commercial property.
Business and tourism representatives told the Ways & Means Committee that the draft bill’s expansion of property-tax categories could unintentionally harm commerce and tourism if ski areas were put in a standalone "resort" class.
Amy Spear, president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber represents businesses statewide and pressed for property-classification rules that are "equitable, transparent, and support economic growth." Spear noted survey data showing "86% of businesses expected last year's property tax increases to impact their business financial health," and urged careful review of any new categories and their implementation feasibility.
Molly Mahajer, president of Ski Vermont (the Vermont Ski Areas Association), told the committee ski areas "are not only major economic drivers and employers in the rural communities where most are located, but skiing is also an important part of the state's tourism, heritage, and culture." Mahajer said skiing brings "close to a billion dollars in direct visitor spending" each winter to Vermont, supports roughly 13,000 jobs with 25% year-round positions, and argued that a narrow resort classification would make the state’s tax base more volatile because ski visitation is weather dependent.
Mahajer pointed to Hawaii as the cited model for a resort classification but noted the two states differ at scale: Hawaii’s combined resorts-and-hotels classification covered about 2.2% of properties in 2024, a much broader set than Vermont’s roughly two dozen ski areas. She recommended, as did Amy Spear, that resorts and lodging remain within a broader commercial classification so recreation and hotels are treated consistently.
The Chamber also urged the committee to build a statutory review mechanism not only for classifications but for the weights and multipliers applied to them, and to consider mixed-use apportionment approaches — such as square-footage or use-based formulas — to avoid gray areas where properties shift between residential, commercial or short-term rental uses.
Ending
Committee members thanked the witnesses and invited continued engagement; no changes or votes on classification language were taken at this hearing.
