Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter about the commentary by Kate Hughes, “It is time to tax second-home owners more.”
Ms. Hughes states that legislators and Gov. Phil Scott should “make it a priority to tax second-home owners more.” Her reasoning is that the education portion of her tax bill is higher as a homestead property owner than a similarly valued house for a non-homestead property owner.
What she fails to mention is that, while it is true that in 74 towns in Vermont the non-homestead property owner pays a lower rate, in 186 towns the non-homestead property owner pays a higher rate. That is because of Vermont’s somewhat complicated formula for the education tax portion of one’s property tax bill.
Ms. Hughes also states that because of second-home owners it “means there’s a shrinking number of primary residents left to shoulder the cost of essential services.” The municipal tax portion of your property tax bill (that covers essential services) is set by the municipal legislative body and is levied against the municipal grand list at a rate needed to pay for municipal expenses. Both homestead and non homestead property owners pay the same rate.
It is also worth noting that non-homestead-property-buyers pay a significantly higher property transfer tax than homestead-buyers.
Vermont property taxes are high. Period. Second-home owners are not getting any special treatment.
Mickey Nowak
Wardsboro
