In November the Central Vermont Career Center will present a $150 million bond to voters in its six sending districts, including ours. According to reporting by David Delcore for the Times Argus, town-by-town data on the tax implications of that bond is available, but the numbers may change. The center is based at Spaulding High School. Its board hopes to build a new facility in Barre Town. The center cannot accommodate the current demand.
Initial data suggests that the impact on a $300,000 home would be $290 a year if the bond passes. That’s the average of the 18 sending towns. The number may be closer to $297 or 5.75%. Because of the vagaries of Vermont’s education funding formula which is based on each town’s common level of appraisal CLA), the tax implications in terms of percentages, are similar across all sending towns, but dollar amounts will differ based on CLAs.
Here’s what Delcore reported: “The estimated tax impact – a 4.2% increase – would be somewhat more modest in the Harwood district. In terms of sticker shock, the owner of a $300,000 home in Warren would see a $295 bump in their tax bill. On the other end of the spectrum, Moretown, which completed a reappraisal last year, would see a $149 increase on a similarly valued home. Fayston ($282), Waterbury ($273), Waitsfield ($270), and Duxbury ($242) round out the district.”
Those estimates may be worst-case scenario, because they don’t factor in income sensitivity and they are based on the full cost (principal and interest) of a 30-year bond.
More clarification from Delcore:
“The Vermont Bond Bank doesn’t work that way. If the bond is approved, the first payment would presumably be built into the budget for the fiscal year that starts next July and wouldn’t be due until May 1, 2027. The second semi-annual interest payment and the principal payment wouldn’t be due until Nov. 1, 2027, pushing the full impact of the bond approval into a new fiscal year.”
If the bond passes, a tuition-based formula will be used to determine costs, and other costs of the center, to sending districts. Tuition for the center is a line item in each district’s budgets, and the estimated increases would be in addition to the local spending increases and impacts.
Stay tuned.
