JFO briefs Senate Education Committee on Vermont education finance: Act 60, property-tax shares and pupil weights

Esther Holden of the Joint Fiscal Office told the Senate Education Committee on Jan. 30 that “Vermont’s education system is different from other states,” and walked the committee through the statewide structure of education finance, revenue sources and the mechanics that translate local school budgets into statewide property tax rates.

The briefing explained why the state funds local, voter-approved school budgets under Act 60 following the Brigham decision (1997), how the December 1 letter sets the starting point for state tax-rate forecasts, and how homestead and nonhomestead property taxes, along with sales and other nonproperty taxes, fund the Education Fund.

Joint Fiscal Office staff said the Education Fund appropriation for fiscal 2025 lists the aggregated education payment (the sum of local voter-approved budgets) at roughly $2.3 billion and that about 80% of the Education Fund’s appropriations are the aggregated school budgets. They emphasized two broad revenue buckets that fund those appropriations: property taxes (homestead and nonhomestead) and nonproperty taxes (notably the sales and use tax). In the JFO presentation nonhomestead property tax was shown as the largest single source at about 39% of…