Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Ron Pulcer who lives in Rutland Town.
I miss Paul Harvey. He would always offer more information with “Page 2 …”. He told stories about historic figures and gave us the missing piece to the puzzle with his “And now, the rest of the story” radio segments.
In this year’s governor’s race, each candidate has their own 27-page plan, which offers some details (read Shumlin’s plan; read Dubie’s plan). But they also gloss over some things or conveniently leave out others (like what specifically would they cut in order to balance the budget or reduce taxes). What we have been mostly getting is sound-bites and negative ads. I am by no means a fan of Mr. Shumlin, but I have also been disappointed by Mr. Dubie’s election campaign. (When are you guys going to debate in Rutland?)
During this election I’ve pondered over some of candidate Dubie’s claims, did some research, and in one case just happened to stumble across some interesting information. Cue Paul Harvey. “And now, the rest of the story”:
Republicans Gov. Jim Douglas and Lt. Governor Dubie like to compare Vermont to other states while pointing to various studies and rankings, usually tax studies. Comparing all 50 states can have some merit. However, comparing a small state like Vermont to California is like comparing a mom-and-pop retailer in a Vermont town to the mega-retailer Wal-Mart. It’s just not an apples-to-apples comparison.
When referring to Vermont’s tax burden, Mr. Douglas and Mr. Dubie like to point out that New Hampshire doesn’t have any income tax or sales tax. But they never go beyond that point and ask the question, “Well, then how does New Hampshire get its revenue?” Cue Paul Harvey.
For all the talk of the “free market,” I find it curious that New Hampshire has a “socialized,” government-run liquor store system.
For FY 2012, the governor’s recommended budget estimated that the State of Vermont would have a $112M budget gap.
Did you know that the State of New Hampshire operates a network of 65 liquor stores? In fiscal year 2009, the New Hampshire State Liquor Commission had record net profits of $122.5 million, or 25.1 percent of sales. The NH Liquor Commission celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2009. So why hasn’t Douglas or candidate Dubie suggested that Vermont do what New Hampshire has been doing for 75 years, all the while avoiding an income tax and sales tax? To those Vermonters who buy their liquor in New Hampshire in order to avoid sales tax: New Hampshire does not need to charge you sales tax, since they are making “net profits” on selling liquor to New Hampshire residents, and border crossers from Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts. For all the talk of the “free market,” I find it curious that New Hampshire has a “socialized,” government-run liquor store system.
Whenever I travel to Boston via I-93 in New Hampshire, I must pay a toll. In FY 2009, New Hampshire made $106.7M from toll operating revenues. Have Mr. Douglas or Mr. Dubie considered road tolls as a revenue option, given Vermont’s many tourists from out of state, especially along segments of I-89 and I-91?
What are the other sources of revenue that New Hampshire collects, in lieu of sales tax and income tax? I don’t know how many more there are, but I will point out just one more: Vehicle Registration fees. Cue Paul Harvey again.
In Vermont the annual registration fee for a gasoline powered automobile is $65.00.
In New Hampshire, the state government has pushed the responsibility for handling registration fee collections to the local level. I spoke with an employee at the Liquor Commission and asked about her car registration fees. She told me the fees were very high. Since the state’s FAQ says that you must deal with your local government, I checked out the Dover, N.H. Web site. I went through the online process of estimating the registration fee for my smallish Pontiac Vibe, as if I were a New Hampshire resident. The Web site told me my local fee was $296 and the NH State fee was $73.20, for a total of $369.20. That is 5.6 times as high as what I pay for my Vermont DMV registration!
To me it seems easier for Douglas and Dubie to point to tax studies of “business friendliness” than it is to dig into the details of what else New Hampshire is doing, and deciding if Vermont should follow their example, or not. Since Dubie is an “engineer” by training, I would think he would be more detail-oriented when he discusses comparisons of taxes and fees between states.
I listened to the Oct. 24 interview of Dubie on VPR. He pointed out that Vermont has one of the lowest student-teacher ratios in the country. He suggests that if we can improve one notch in the rankings, it will help lower our education costs. I don’t dispute his claim in general terms. However, cue Paul Harvey.
Vermont ranked as the 12th highest state in terms of governor’s salary in 2007, despite our small population. Vermont’s governor makes more than the governors of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
To be fair, maybe we should also look at the “Citizen/Governor’s Salary” ratio. Since there is only one governor per state, the next best thing to look at might be the governor’s salary in relation to number of citizens. Vermont’s current Citizen /Gov. Salary ratio is four citizens per Governor salary dollar (621,760 / $142,542). California’s Citizen / Gov. Salary ratio ranged during the period of 2009 and 2010 from 174 to 212 citizens per Gov. salary dollar, due to a large salary cut at the end of 2009 (36,961,664 / $212,179 in 2009 and 36,961,664 / $173,987 in 2010). Vermont ranked as the 12th highest state in terms of governor’s salary in 2007, despite our small population. Vermont’s governor makes more than the governors of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
By the way, according to October campaign finance reports, Shumlin and Dubie have both collected and spent more on their campaigns then they would make as Governor of Vermont in salary and benefits ($200K x 2 year term = $400K). Well, so much for being fiscally prudent. Meanwhile, back in North Dakota…
Dubie pointed out that North Dakota is the state just above Vermont in student-teacher ratio. But I wonder if Dubie knows how much North Dakota makes in royalty and rental income from energy companies using state lands? The State of North Dakota took in almost $342.8 million in royalties and almost $1.1 million in rental income in FY 2010. Vermont does not have such extractive resources as oil and natural gas.
Also, North Dakota also has a state-owned bank, The Bank of North Dakota, which was first established in 1919. The Bank of North Dakota partners with private banks in the state to make student loans and home mortgages available to citizens. By providing a “secondary market” for in-state, single-family home mortgages, the Bank of North Dakota brings in revenue for the state, and avoids the leakage out of state to Wall Street. The BND Annual Report for 2009 shows “payments to general fund” in a 10-year summary (pages 48-49). For each year from 2004-2009, the BND transferred $30M of their net profits to the state’s general fund, easing the taxpayer burden. On page 3, the BND President says: “Despite the national financial challenges, BND had a successful year with earnings of $58 million, a seventh straight year of record profits.”
If more of the governor’s race debate hosts had invited the alternative candidates, perhaps Dubie and Shumlin would have learned more about the Bank of North Dakota. Governor candidate Emily Peyton is a proponent of a Bank of Vermont, modeled after the Bank of North Dakota. VTdigger.org included legislative testimony from Cairn Cross in January 2010, about the state bank idea and the Bank of North Dakota.
By the way, North Dakota is one of the few U.S. States that has remained solvent during this Great Recession. Something to think about!
On the topic of Vermont Yankee, Dubie has stated that safety is an important factor, and I agree with him. Mr. Dubie has often mentioned IBM and energy costs at the same time he discusses Vermont Yankee. Cue Paul Harvey.
Currently, Entergy is pumping out tritium-laced groundwater. According to a recent VTDigger article, “Shumlin also alleges that Entergy plans to shut down the two extraction pumps on site in December”. Whether that is true, I don’t know for sure.
In that VTdigger article’s comment section, another reader (James) posted a link to an award-winning 1998 article (investigative reporting) about IBM’s around-the-clock pumping of groundwater on their Essex Junction campus:
“IBM confronts toxic legacy: cleanup will cost millions, last for years”, by Nancy Bazilchuk, published in The Burlington Free Press on September 20, 1998.
I also found a related EPA document from 1992, which described the “Contamination Detected and Cleanup Goals” and “Remedy Selected” in table format.
To me, this demonstrates the good example of corporate responsibility that IBM in Essex Junction has taken (and continues to show) regarding their ongoing cleanup of past PCE and TCE contamination. This is in stark contrast to how Entergy has continued to dodge responsibility for leaks and deferred maintenance issues. Here is the closing paragraph for part 1 of this article:
“The fact remains, however, that because of the law, because of IBM’s sense of responsibility and because a lot of assumptions were made a long time ago, IBM must continue to pump groundwater out of the bedrock at a rate of roughly 13 million gallons a month, day-in and day-out, for decades to come. At worst, a breakdown would allow this pollution to spread. At best, the pumping keeps in check one of Vermont’s worst groundwater pollution sites.”
With all of this 365/24/7 pumping from about 40 wells at IBM, I can now see (even more so) why the cost of electricity is so important to IBM. The continual pumping of groundwater and filtration costs the company every day in the long-term future. As the article states, “It’s like a tax they (the businesses) will always have to pay. Even if IBM moves jobs out of Vermont, as Dubie warns, they would still have to continue pumping the groundwater in Essex Junction, which requires electricity.
So, wouldn’t it have been much simpler for Dubie to suggest publicly (months ago) to Entergy that they follow the good example set by IBM and behave as a good corporate citizen in Vermont? Why can’t Mr. Dubie talk straighter with Vermont citizens about electricity, IBM and Entergy?
The water quality in Connecticut River is just as important to Vermonters and residents in downstream states as the water quality of the Winooski River and Lake Champlain is to all residents of Vermont.
As Paul Harvey would say, “and now, you know the rest of the story.” Or, at least you now know some more of it. A little more civil debate and details (and less negative ads) from the candidates for governor on these issues would be most helpful.
“Good day!”
