Action needed on property taxes 
By Rep. David Sunderland

In my four years representing Rutland Town in the Vermont House of Representatives I have had the pleasure of working with both Rep. Mike Obuchowski of Rockingham and Rep. Bud Otterman of Topsham. I have great respect for them both and appreciate their dedication to their communities and their state. Their commentary, which appeared in the Rutland Herald on Thursday, Dec. 7, however, is misleading, and the good people of Rutland County deserve the straight truth.

Obuchowski is the current chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Otterman is his vice chairman. Together they lead a group of 11 legislators charged with establishing the tax laws of our great state, including education funding tax laws. Disappointingly, and above the objections of many of us in the House of Representatives, there has been virtually no progress towards relieving the crushing burden that our education finance system is placing on Vermonters.

With the fury of taxpayers increasing, it is now clear that this committee has no choice but to face up to the problems that Act 60 has created. It is unfortunate that their first course of action is to lash out at another group of legislators who are trying to raise awareness of this issue through their "Revolt and Repeal" movement. It is well past time to stop the finger pointing and start fixing the problem.

The first step to solving this difficult problem is to correctly identify it. Obuchowski and Otterman suggest that our education funding system is broken because it uses the property tax as a major source of revenue.

While skyrocketing property taxes are the most obvious symptom, the underlying cause of the problem is that our education funding system costs too much and the costs continue to rise too fast.

Their suggestion that simply shifting unsustainable costs from one form of tax to another will solve the problem is short-sighted at best. Yes, there are a number of ways we can reduce our property taxes. But doing so by simply raising the income tax, gas tax, property transfer tax, sales tax, or any other kind of tax does nothing to reduce the overall tax burden on Vermonters. It merely gives politicians the ability to raise their hands and say "we did something." This Legislature must commit itself to not just doing something, but doing the right thing for all Vermont taxpayers.

The incoming General Assembly needs to look deeper into the problem, work harder at finding real solutions, and have the courage and leadership to implement them. We need to take a sincere and honest look at the cost of public education in Vermont. Regardless of the type of tax used to fund our education system, can we really afford to continue with school budgets that increase at twice the rate of our paychecks? Can we commit to focusing our taxpayer's dollars on teachers, kids, and classrooms and put the bureaucracy on a budget? Can we commit ourselves to doing everything possible to reduce the administrative costs associated with our public school system? Can we expand the ability of Vermont parents to choose the most appropriate educational setting for their children without paying twice for the privilege?

These are the questions the House Ways and Means Committee and the entire Vermont state Legislature should commit itself to addressing in the upcoming biennium.

There are strong Act 60 supporters in positions of power on the House Ways and Means Committee and in the House leadership as well. However, I trust that in this legislative session we can accept and admit to the mistakes of the past and bring open minds and new attitudes to the conference tables as we look for a more affordable and unifying education funding system for the Green Mountain State. Vermonters expect no less.

-- David Sunderland is the state representative from Rutland Town.