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Putney Selectboard reads draft letter to Vermont legislators seeking tax relief and funding changes
Summary
A draft letter read by Selectboard member Aileen Chute asks the Vermont Legislature for retroactive relief for taxpayers, to restructure school funding so local votes align with state education tax rates, expanded local revenue options, and either a hold-harmless program or PILOTs for properties currently exempt under state law.
Under Old Business on Nov. 26, Selectboard member Aileen Chute read aloud a draft letter addressed to Vermont legislators that asks for immediate retroactive relief for taxpayers facing unexpectedly large 2024 property tax bills and seeks structural changes to how education funding and municipal revenue are handled.
The letter contends that local voters’ approval of budgets did not prevent a larger education tax increase assigned at the state level, citing Putney as an example where a 2.7% local increase became a 13% tax increase after state calculations. The board’s draft asks the Legislature to restructure education funding so the state-determined education tax rate aligns more closely with local budget votes and to identify funding sources that do not center the burden on property owners.
The draft also requests expanded municipal revenue options: increase the Local Options tax ceiling to 2%, reduce the State’s share of that tax to no more than 20%, and increase the Property Transfer Tax with a direct municipal share. As an alternative to a hold-harmless approach for municipalities with many exempt properties, the letter suggests requiring properties exempt under the Public, Pious and Charitable statute (cited as 32 V.S.A. § 3802(4)) to make PILOT payments or reduced tax payments to the municipality.
The letter includes local figures: Putney’s non-Town, non-State exempt properties were listed at $126,068,400 in 2024 valuation, which the draft states results in an annual loss of $893,572 in tax revenue based on the 2024 tax rate of 0.7088. The draft was read but the minutes do not show a motion to send the letter or any final action; it is recorded as draft material under Old Business.
