MORETOWN, Vt. (WCAX) – In an effort to keep property taxes in check this year, Vermont Governor Phil Scott on Tuesday pitched a pair of ideas in his budget address. One would take other state revenues to prop up the Education Fund. The other would reduce spending by eliminating Vermont’s recently approved universal school meal law and reverting back to pre-pandemic federal benefits.
At Harwood Union High School, staff daily make over 1,200 lunches and 600 breakfasts across seven schools. It’s all funded by a blend of state and federal funding.
Erika Dolan, the district’s food & nutrition co-director points out Wednesday’s lunch menu — roasted tofu, and chicken in a Mandarin sauce, with local vegetables and rice. “There is no worry from home that kids can come, have thier meals, go with their day, and do what they’re here to do — learn,” Dolan said.
During the pandemic — when many children were forced to stay home — the federal government footed the bill for all kids to receive free breakfasts and lunch regardless of family income. After the cash ran dry two years ago, Vermont taxpayers began footing the bill, drawing from the state’s $2.4 billion Education Fund.
“We had a historic increase in property taxes last year and here we go again because we’re facing another 6 percent increase in property tax bills — that’s not going to work for anyone,” said Gov. Phil Scott in his budget address Tuesday.
As part of a plan to keep taxes flat, the governor is proposing rolling back the $18 million meal program. He’s concerned that less affluent families are paying more in property taxes for meals for students whose families can afford to pay. He says he wants to go back to the previous system where the federal government subsidized meals for low-income families.
But backers of the universal meals program say paying for everyone bridges the gap for 30,000 families who make too much to qualify for federal aid but not enough to make ends meet. “And those are the ones who are benefitting the most from those programs, and they are the ones that are suffering the most for affordability,” said Rep. Teddy Waszazak, D-Barre.
competing needs in a tight budget year where everyone is hungry for their programs to be funded.