By a vote of 362-168 Waitsfield voters approved the town-wide adoption of a Local Option Tax that adds 1% tax to rooms, meals, alcohol and retail and online sales. In a full year it will generate about $600,000. This year it will go into effect in July and generate an estimated $450,000.
Voters in Warren and Waitsfield approved $15,150 per town to help fund an implementation path coordinator for the Mad River Path’s Active Transportation corridor. The path association will also contribute $15,150 to fund that part-time position.
Voters throughout the Harwood Unified Union School District approved a budget of $51,884,847 and allocated a $500,000 fund balance to the district’s maintenance reserve fund. The ballots of voters in Warren, Waitsfield, Fayston, Duxbury, Moretown and Waterbury are co-mingled once polls closed. This year they were tabulated and counted at Brookside Primary School. The budget passed 2,104 to 1,343 and the maintenance reserve vote passed 2,687 to 736.
That budget is up 5.44% from last year’s budget and that budget also includes cuts of close to $1 million.
Those cuts are offset by $3.1 million in increased costs. Those increases are from:
- Contractual wage increases of $1,237,773 (5.45%).
- Special education increases of $1,065,567 (21.41%).
- Health care $364,971 (7.34%).
- Step increases in wages of $95,089 (13.44%).
- Operations and maintenance increases of $231,172 (10.40 %).
- Technology hardware increases of $95,089 (13.44%).
But here’s the bottom line for taxpayers when it comes to how each town’s taxpayers will be impacted. Per town tax rates are based on each town’s Common Level of Appraisal which calculates how each town’s current property valuations reflect fair market values. The lower the CLA number, the greater the impact on property taxes. CLAs represent what percentage of fair market values local property valuations reflect.
This year’s proposed spending will result in these tax rates:
- Duxbury $2.126 – 10.50% increase.
- Fayston $2.635 – 17.30% increase.
- Moretown $1.289 – 8.6% increase.
- Waitsfield $2.386 – 11% increase.
- Warren $2.558 – 9% increase.
- Waterbury $2.418 – 11.20% increase.
Here is what that means for the tax bills that will be issued this summer. Duxbury voters will see an increase of 20-cents per $100 of assessed value. Fayston will see an increase of 39-cents per $100 of assessed value. Moretown will see a 10-cent increase per $100 of assessed value. (Moretown completed a reappraisal last year which had its CLA briefly at 100% of fair market value.) Waitsfield will see an increase of 24-cents per $100 of assessed value. Warren’s increase will be 21-cents per $100 of assessed value and Waterbury will see an increase of 24-cents per $100 of assessed value.
To break it down further that means increases ranging from $100 (Moretown) to $390 (Fayston) per $100,000 of assessed value in this year’s tax bills.
A home valued at $300,000 in each town would see these increases:
Duxbury $600.
Fayston $1,170.
Moretown $300.
Waitsfield $720.
Warren $630.
Waterbury $720.
School board seats were filled completely and partially throughout the school district. In Fayston, Karl Naden was elected as a write-in for one year and Langford Davidson was elected to a two-year seat. In Moretown, one open seat remains vacant. Duxbury voters reelected Cindy Senning to the board along with Emily Dolloff. Warren voters elected Macon Phillips as a write-in candidate. Waterbury results were not available by press time.
Voters in the school district also voted a $ 5,472,467 budget for the Central Vermont Career Center. There are 18 towns served by the career center in Barre. Those votes are co-mingled and will be counted tomorrow, March 5.
