Two lawmakers returned to an empty Statehouse Tuesday to demand that the Shumlin administration do a better job of helping vulnerable Vermonters navigate the statewide property tax system.
A pair of Republicans — Reps. Patti Komline of Dorset and Kurt Wright of Burlington — and one Democrat — Rep. Cynthia Browning of Arlington — have signed on to a letter publicly nudging Gov. Peter Shumlin to do more to make sure low-income Vermonters aren’t forced out of their homes when they unwittingly pay too much in taxes.
The timing was not accidental. Shumlin has taken flak in recent weeks for a real estate deal in which he bought his neighbor Jeremy Dodge’s house and adjacent property. The property had been slated for a tax sale — Dodge owed roughly $17,000 in back taxes — but former Rep. Oliver Olsen has suggested that Dodge paid roughly 10 times more than he owed in 2012 because he failed to file a homestead declaration and to apply for a property tax adjustment. Dodge now says he didn’t understand his options and regrets the deal, and Shumlin has agreed to go back to the negotiating table.
The proposal asks Shumlin to direct the Tax Department to do two things: Stop requiring people to file a homestead declaration each year, and reach out to delinquent taxpayers who may be eligible for income sensitivity. The lawmakers envision the governor’s office collecting names of delinquent taxpayers from each town and then handing that information over to the Tax Department, which would identify which of these people didn’t file for a tax reduction based on income sensitivity. The Tax Department would then pass those names on to tax advocates who could encourage eligible people to apply for the reduction, wich would lower their tax burden.
The Republican lawmakers said their suggestion wasn’t a political stunt.
“We’ve been very sensitive about being careful that people are going to charge us with being partisan if we speak about this issue,” Wright said. “But I think we are obligated to speak about an issue that we have cared about and worked on for years.”
Neither Wright nor Komline had qualms about weighing in on Shumlin’s situation, however. “I don’t think it’s political, I think that it’s reality. It’s reality what we’re hearing when we go in the stores, when I go on the bike path in Burlington. I haven’t gone anywhere that I haven’t had somebody bring it up to me,” Wright said.
Wright also said he thinks there should be an independent review of the land deal.
“You would like to think that the first thing you would think if you heard about a person who was paying $5,000 who made virtually no money would be: what’s going on here.”
The lawmakers said they’ve doggedly tried to address the problem through legislation but other legislators and the Tax Department have stood in their way, and they saw Shumlin’s real estate deal as an opportunity to harness some political pressure to make progress on the issue.
“This is an opportunity, quite honestly, to see this issue addressed,” Komline said. “Hopefully there’s more pressure on the administration to do something.”
Komline also suggested that their proposal offers Shumlin an opportunity, too — to save face. “In a way, it’s sort of an opportunity for atonement if he can go forward and help people in this situation.”
Shumlin released the following statement in response to the lawmakers’ request:
“I am always happy to look for ways to ensure that low-income Vermonters have the information they need to reduce their property tax bills and stay current on their property tax payments. I was one of the authors of the income sensitivity program that is designed to meet that objective, and I fully support fixing any confusion that exists. I look forward to working with interested legislators and others to improve the system and am open-minded regarding ways to achieve that.”
Tax Department Commissioner Mary Peterson dismissed the first part of the proposal — she says filing a homestead declaration each year is actually less complicated — but she was more receptive to the second component.
“We are totally willing to take a look at it to determine if it’s feasible,” she said. Peterson said the department is already working hard to reach out to low-income people who may qualify for income sensitivity. Peterson said the Tax Department doesn’t have an estimate of how many people qualify but fail to apply for the reduction. Roughly 70 percent of households do file for income sensitivity, according to Peterson.
Komline and Wright said they’ve heard from multiple constituents about the problem. “We need to know how many other Vermonters may be vulnerable to this type of situation, that might also be in danger of losing their homes. It is a sad day indeed when any Vermonter is forced off their property because they don’t understand our tax system or they don’t understand help that may be available to them,” Wright said.
