BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermonters filed into the polls on Tuesday to vote on everything from presidential candidates to public safety – but it was school budgets that took the spotlight.
Inflated costs across the board and changes to the pupil weighting formula mean inflated school spending, and for many communities, a double-digit property tax spike.
Voters in Burlington, Colchester, and Winooski all passed their budgets by fairly wide margins, despite some hefty budget and tax increases. Maple Run Unified School District also passed their budget.
However, other districts are seeing their spending plans go down to defeat, including the Champlain Valley School District, Milton, Rutland, Barre Unified Union School District, South Burlington, the Otter Valley Unified Union District, and the Barstow Unified Union School District.
The Montpelier/Roxbury School District still hasn’t reported from Roxbury but because it failed in Montpelier, it will not pass.
Mountain View School District is also still up in the air. So far, Killington and Bridgewater voted no, but we are still waiting on results from Plymouth and Woodstock – which could change the result.
We are still waiting on results for several districts, and that’s when we will get a larger picture of what voters thought of property tax increases.