Dear TRSU Community,
We would like to provide some insight into the main factors driving this year’s property taxes – especially for Chester, which felt the greatest impact. We have set aside time for a community meeting this coming Wednesday for this purpose – the logistics are at the end of this message.
It’s important to understand that, in Vermont, every taxpayer contributes to the overall cost of all school districts across the state—not just their own local district. As a result, the amount spent on education locally has only a small effect on your individual property tax bill. Even if the TRSU were to significantly reduce its own costs, your property tax rate could still increase depending on the decisions and spending patterns of other districts throughout Vermont. This statewide system means local efforts alone have limited impact on your final tax rate.
The key factor affecting your property tax rate this past year was the Common Level of Appraisal (CLA), which is updated annually by the state. The CLA represents how closely your town’s assessed property values match actual market values. For example, if the CLA in Chester is 78%, it means properties are assessed at only 78% of their true market value.
Since Vermont bases education taxes on market value, any gap between these values is adjusted through the CLA. When the CLA drops, as happened for Chester last year, it signals that assessed values have fallen even further behind the real market, resulting in a higher tax rate to make up the difference – the state wants you to pay taxes on that extra market value after all. This shift is one of the main reasons for the recent tax increase in Chester.
The state introduced a new statewide adjustment (SA) this past year, which helped smooth out some of the sharp swings in tax rates caused by fluctuating CLA values. However, this adjustment also makes it more difficult to pinpoint exactly how much of this year’s tax change is due to increases in statewide education spending versus changes in the local CLA.
Assuming my aging math skills haven’t completely failed me; in Chester’s case, about 60% of your tax increase was due to the CLA change. The other 40% was due to education costs statewide – remember we all pay for each other’s schools, so our taxes are much more dependent on what other districts are doing than what we do ourselves. This is why reducing taxes locally is so difficult; it must be a statewide effort for any meaningful change to occur.
There will be a presentation and discussion on local property taxes this Wednesday (August 6th) in the Green Mountain High School media center at 6:00 p.m. for those who are interested. There will also be Zoom access at this login: https://trsu.zoom.us/j/84032293083 .
Additionally, we will dedicate time for anyone interested to discuss the significant property tax hike from two years ago. It is crucial to recognize that this increase stemmed from a legislative change—one that was made with good intentions, yet whose impact was not fully anticipated. Gaining a clear understanding of both the immediate and underlying factors behind these recent property tax changes offers valuable context as our community prepares for the upcoming budget season this fall.
Most Sincerely,
Layne
We would like to provide some insight into the main factors driving this year’s property taxes – especially for Chester, which felt the greatest impact. We have set aside time for a community meeting this coming Wednesday for this purpose – the logistics are at the end of this message.
It’s important to understand that, in Vermont, every taxpayer contributes to the overall cost of all school districts across the state—not just their own local district. As a result, the amount spent on education locally has only a small effect on your individual property tax bill. Even if the TRSU were to significantly reduce its own costs, your property tax rate could still increase depending on the decisions and spending patterns of other districts throughout Vermont. This statewide system means local efforts alone have limited impact on your final tax rate.
The key factor affecting your property tax rate this past year was the Common Level of Appraisal (CLA), which is updated annually by the state. The CLA represents how closely your town’s assessed property values match actual market values. For example, if the CLA in Chester is 78%, it means properties are assessed at only 78% of their true market value.
Since Vermont bases education taxes on market value, any gap between these values is adjusted through the CLA. When the CLA drops, as happened for Chester last year, it signals that assessed values have fallen even further behind the real market, resulting in a higher tax rate to make up the difference – the state wants you to pay taxes on that extra market value after all. This shift is one of the main reasons for the recent tax increase in Chester.
The state introduced a new statewide adjustment (SA) this past year, which helped smooth out some of the sharp swings in tax rates caused by fluctuating CLA values. However, this adjustment also makes it more difficult to pinpoint exactly how much of this year’s tax change is due to increases in statewide education spending versus changes in the local CLA.
Assuming my aging math skills haven’t completely failed me; in Chester’s case, about 60% of your tax increase was due to the CLA change. The other 40% was due to education costs statewide – remember we all pay for each other’s schools, so our taxes are much more dependent on what other districts are doing than what we do ourselves. This is why reducing taxes locally is so difficult; it must be a statewide effort for any meaningful change to occur.
There will be a presentation and discussion on local property taxes this Wednesday (August 6th) in the Green Mountain High School media center at 6:00 p.m. for those who are interested. There will also be Zoom access at this login: https://trsu.zoom.us/j/84032293083 .
Additionally, we will dedicate time for anyone interested to discuss the significant property tax hike from two years ago. It is crucial to recognize that this increase stemmed from a legislative change—one that was made with good intentions, yet whose impact was not fully anticipated. Gaining a clear understanding of both the immediate and underlying factors behind these recent property tax changes offers valuable context as our community prepares for the upcoming budget season this fall.
Most Sincerely,
Layne
RSS Feed