Dear Editor,
Vermonters face a disturbing — perhaps even cruel — conflict of economic forces.
According to the Social Security Administration, there is an established population of 133,773 Vermonters 65 and older, nearly 21% of the state’s population, who rely on Social Security.
This population, which comprised 71,968 women and 61,805 men in 2024, is clearly not positioned to absorb a big property tax increase in 2026.
Last November, Social Security recipients were notified that their Social Security benefits would increase by a meager 2.8% in 2026. This cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) does not compare well with the projected 2026 property tax increase.
Consider this conclusion crafted by Vermont’s tax commissioner in the annual letter profiling the property tax crisis before the Legislature:
“This year’s letter projects education property tax bills to increase by a statewide average of 11.9% next fiscal year.”
The effort to find a path forward for K-12 education reform has absorbed significant time and money, and, hopefully, a resolution is near. But reform efforts would also benefit from identifying and redirecting spending that may be working at cross-purposes with those goals.
Recent legislative analysis of the Vermont State Teachers’ Retirement Fund indicated there were 9,955 active teachers enrolled in 2021, and 10,567 in 2024, showing an increase in active teachers of 612 over the three-year period.
The report shows the average annual compensation for an active member is $73,263. Given that Vermont already ranks among the states with the lowest K-12 ratio of students to teachers, spending $44.8 million for an additional 612 teachers while the reform effort is still underway seems oddly ironic.
Keeping in mind that the teachers’ retirement fund is a state fund, not a local fund, limiting further access to it over the next few years might be the leverage necessary to foster actual reforms.
Tom Pelham
Berlin, Vt.
