ADVISORY PETITION TO THE VERMONT GENERAL ASSEMBLY
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED RESIDENTS OF VERMONT, AGREE THAT PROPERTY TAXES ARE UNFAIR, TOO HIGH AND TOO COMPLICATED. WE SUPPORT THE REVOLT & REPEAL CONCEPT OF REPEALING THE STATEWIDE PROPERTY TAX ON JULY 1, 2009.
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| # | Name | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 651 | Raymond F. Johnson | |
| 652 | Charles Burnham | The Legislature appears to be spending its time on frivolous bills and is not focusing on the REAL problems of lowering taxes. The spending has to STOP!! |
| 653 | winfred moodie | |
| 654 | Anonymous | |
| 655 | William J. Kipp | |
| 656 | Kaisa Lewia | Its out of control. My son graduates from college this spring - and will move out of state. There is no future for him in VT. Sad as he is a 7th generation Vermonter. My husband and I reside in Stowe, but fear we will have to sell our home (on our family farm) and move...STOP THE MADNESS! |
| 657 | Nancy Beauchamp | |
| 658 | Diane Rosenblum | Use money from income tax collections to cover education expenses for schools. If need be, increase the income tax. |
| 659 | Gail Widham Himmelsbach | |
| 660 | Kathleen DeMaio | |
| 661 | Harris K Drury III | |
| 662 | Jeff Persitz | |
| 663 | Diane Rousseau | |
| 664 | Anonymous | I KNOW IT IS KNOWN THAT THE WORKING POOR ARE SUFFERING WITH HIGH TAXES. IT HAS TO STOP. WAGES DON'T KEEP UP WITH THE COST OF LIVING. IT IS SO FRUSTRATING!! I WORK FOR A FUEL OIL COMPANY AND AM FURIOUS ABOUT THE ALREADY HIGH PRICES. WE CERTAINLY DON'T NEED TAXES ADDED TO THE OUTRAGEOUS PRICES WE ALREADY PAY. I REALLY DON'T FEEL THE POLITICIANS AND/OR THE BIG FUEL COMPANIES HAVE A CLUE WHAT THE IMPACT OF THESE HIGH PRICES ARE HAVING ON LOW/MIDDLE INCOME FAMILIES. |
| 665 | Jonathan Wallace | |
| 666 | June Cook | |
| 667 | Sheila Pilsmaker | |
| 668 | Craig Pilsmaker | |
| 669 | Max Pilsmaker | |
| 670 | Ben Pilsmaker | |
| 671 | John DeSimone | |
| 672 | Lisa Walker | |
| 673 | Anonymous | I pay more than $4,000 a year in property taxes, but because our income is low, we receive a rebate of $1,800. Although we are personally beneficiaries, this system still needs repealing and reform. We have to end the stupid Socialist philosophy in Vermont of sharing wealth. |
| 674 | Anonymous | Yes, you are right. It is unfair and by being a "vacation" home own, even though it has been in my family since the early 1920's we are penalized and pay extraordinary tax rates without taxing the system and services. We plow our own roads, have no children in the school system and hire local people to work on our property and we get treated like second class citizens. Favorable reform would be greatly welcomed by our family!! |
| 675 | Cliff Kaegi | |
| 676 | denise byers | |
| 677 | Gary Lee Clark | Repeal act 60 and 68 and reduce the State governments role in funding the education.Let each community decide what is necessary to provide our children in grades 1 thru 12 with a sound basic education that each community can afford.Take a hard look at the total curriculum and determine just how many of the fringe courses offered are truely necessary or just " feel good time filler to inflate the gradeing system. |
| 678 | Charles R. Parker | Act 60 and 68 will bankrupt our State, one or more towns at a time. People have choices on where to live and where to pay taxes. The regular folks are being driven out of Vermont because this is the only choice with which they are left. |
| 679 | John McLeod | The whole concept of linking education costs to property is stupid. The connection is people to education and it follows that each and every person through personal tax should pay directly for education. |
| 680 | Thomas A Bartlett III | Property taxes are OUTRAGEOUS. Act 60/68 is most beneficial to the big double income people living in DEVELOPMENTS on a small lots with kids using the school system. They constantly vote in school budgets that cost them a minimal because, the school funding system isn't capped and isn't targeting their large incomes. Instead act 60/68 is forcing people out of their homes to other states where things are more affordable and equitable. Montpelier is diverting attention form these home grown problems by focusing on events outside the state AND country ie: (impeachment,global warming, emissions,Iraq). Montpelier is simply "whistling past the grave yard" and dismissing the property tax concerns. They really don't see a problem because their getting what they want> |
| 681 | Thomas A Bartlett III | Property taxes are OUTRAGEOUS. Act 60/68 is most beneficial to the big double income people living in DEVELOPMENTS on a small lots with kids using the school system. They constantly vote in school budgets that cost them a minimal because, the school funding system isn't capped and isn't targeting their large incomes. Instead act 60/68 is forcing people out of their homes to other states where things are more affordable and equitable. Montpelier is diverting attention form these home grown problems by focusing on events outside the state AND country ie: (impeachment,global warming, emissions,Iraq). Montpelier is simply "whistling past the grave yard" and dismissing the property tax concerns. They really don't see a problem because their getting what they want. |
| 682 | Thomas A Bartlett III | Property taxes are OUTRAGEOUS. Act 60/68 is most beneficial to the big double income people living in DEVELOPMENTS on a small lots with kids using the school system. They constantly vote in school budgets that cost them a minimal because, the school funding system isn't capped and isn't targeting their large incomes. Instead act 60/68 is forcing people out of their homes to other states where things are more affordable and equitable. Montpelier is diverting attention form these home grown problems by focusing on events outside the state AND country ie: (impeachment,global warming, emissions,Iraq). Montpelier is simply "whistling past the grave yard" and dismissing the property tax concerns. They really don't see a problem because their getting what they want. |
| 683 | Tina Cioffi | |
| 684 | Kim Downing | Taxes are too high! This is getting way out of control and making it extremely hard for all of us. Especially those who have lived in Vermont for all of our lives and have a fixed income including the elderly and the lower income households. Many young couples cannot afford to purchase a home in their native state. |
| 685 | Erika Mellmann | |
| 686 | Steve Terrill | There is no funding system in the world that will be adequate for the voracious appetite of the teachers union, who under the guise of doing what is best for the kids has consistently provided struggling communites with ultimatums at every turn. Ultimatums such as "pay 100% of our health care or we strike", "provide guaranteed annual pay increases regardless of performance or we strike", etc. These behaviors are not helping our kids, our budgets, or our unity in coming up with the best solutions for our communities. I'm fed up. When the union pits one school's salary structure against another, the only purpose is to enrich themselves. Students are the tool they use to open our pockets to take what they want. I believe the most talented teachers in our communites suffer under union rules and the least talented become the recipients of windfall wages for what they contribute. This is not a business model I can support as I believe it is fundamently flawed. The best way forward is to eliminate the union, put the students' best interests as the priority and act like a business by making financially reasonable staff investments to get a quality, balanced education for our children. I believe the unions have caused our current crisis as they have in the auto industry with tens of thousands losing there jobs, the airline industry with pilots forced to take $100 thousand dollar a year pay cuts to keep the airlines from going under and also the teaching industry. The solution is not to pass the buck and try to have your nieghbor pay more, but to look at the current business model and ask yourself, if this was your business that needed to be fixed where would you start. Food for thought. |
| 687 | Anonymous | We have been here since 1972 and at that time the taxes were pretty fair, but they really are getting out of hand now. It is not only that property taxes are going up, we feel it is badly mismanaged. I always say, put me in charge and I can save you a bundle. I am a very frugal and reasonable person, and if you can budget your money at home, you can do it anywhere. We have a small business in West Dover and manage all right, but the taxes are very unfair and will finally kill all the businesses.I hope this will not happen. margit ridgway |
| 688 | Fred McCullough | Act 60 was a mistake from the start as the estimated cost of implementation was 8 million at the time! Couple the complexity and cost of this with the anti incentive towns now have toward business and a disaster awaits. Town zoning regs have even changed due to this as there is now zero incentive to entice business for tax base purposes. Vermont already has an anti business climate, Act 60 was the nail in the economic coffin. |
| 689 | Fred McCullough | Act 60 was a mistake from the start as the estimated cost of implementation was 8 million at the time! Couple the complexity and cost of this with the anti incentive towns now have toward business and a disaster awaits. Town zoning regs have even changed due to this as there is now zero incentive to entice business for tax base purposes. Vermont already has an anti business climate, Act 60 was the nail in the economic coffin. |
| 690 | Al Quesnel | Remember seniors have a fixed income and are being taxed out of Vermont |
| 691 | Donna Hepinstall | |
| 692 | Jan LaPerle | |
| 693 | Mary Gerdt | The property taxes are being overmilked. The elders, poor, disabled and common working people are paying what amounts to rent and are being forced from their homes or will be within 10 years at the current rates. Do we really OWN anything? The schools should be for all the community and run year round. The teachers should spend more time teaching and less on picketing. There should be a minimum statewide standard of education and no more unless community DONATE not MANDATE contributions to enhance schools. Also wonder why houses are so much shabbier? People cannot afford food or fuel let alone paint and repairs. Besides there is a disincentive to make repairs-more taxes. At least part of a school tax should tax everyone a little and promote sensible not extravagant management. Please repeal this unfair tax. It is punishing landowners disproportionally to nonlandowners. Farmers like ourselves are wondering how to ever improve the farm without punishment. |
| 694 | paul anderson | Replace with income tax and cut spending |
| 695 | Tom Racine | |
| 696 | Steve Overton | |
| 697 | John de Bruin | Repeal the ridiculous 60/68. In my opinion there should not be a need for a state education tax if the lawmakers would keep their hands out of the Vermont Lottery funds. Let's give us a break! The working people of Vermont don't stand a chance of survival here and are being forced out of the state to find a real career and normal living conditions they can afford. LET'S BRING BUSINESS BACK TO VERMONT AND STOP THE TOURIST INDUSTRY B.S.- VERMNOT CAN'T SURVIVE ON TOURISM AND OVERTAXING THEIR RESIDENTS! |
| 698 | Anonymous | Why is it that the state has a surplus of funds and the property taxes continue to climb? Any fool knows that a state is NOT a corporation and should NOT make profits. Repeal the stupid education taxes and give the poor working people of Vermont a fighting chance otherwise there will be NO Vermonters, just wildlife. |
| 699 | Dale Atwood | Act 60 and 68 needs to be repealed. It has caused a huge and un-substainable burden on the people of vermont. The only people who gain are the teachers , who are over payed, compared to the average vermonter. REPEAL.....NOW! |
| 700 | Paula Atwood-House | We need to change the statewide property tax!! While collecting names for our recent petition to re vote our school budget in Hartland I have found that vast majority wants change! |