Killington, NH? Secession from Vermont gets overwhelming town support

Author: Andrea Glaessner

For the second time in the past year, the popular ski town of Killington has voted to secede from Vermont and join their eastern neighbor, New Hampshire, in protest of the high property tax caused by Act 60. At a town meeting in March 2004, Killington first voted to the pursue secession, and as of the March 4 town meeting, nearly two-thirds of citizens in attendance renewed this intent.

The cause of complaint in Act 60, which Vermont implemented in 1997 to alter the property tax formula such that it now places a heavier tax burden on property owners in "golden towns" like Killington in order to provide more educational funding in less wealthy towns. For some, the act has been successful, as a graduate of Springfield High School in Springfield who wrote an article in the Rutland Herald explained. "Along the way I found I had been excellently prepared by my teachers at Springfield. Professors and employers concerned about my performance as a graduate of a public high school in a poor rural Vermont town were surprised and impressed. I am convinced that the 1997 enactment of Act 60 significantly aided my success and that of my classmates," his letter read.

But property owners in wealthier towns like Killington are upset that they should pay such a "disproportionate" tax. Residents are not just upset about the unfairness of the tax - many worry about how the tax is affecting the town's economy as well. Selectman Norman Holcomb was quoted in the Rutland Herald as saying, "The taxes are crushing. People are not moving into town - young people can't afford it - and they're driving out people of retirement age. Montpelier has got to find a [different] solution."

According to Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Economics David Colander, "From an economic standpoint, you put a tax on whoever will pay it without complaining. But if you kill the golden goose that lays the golden egg, you affect everything."

And in this case, the effect may be secession. In response to the debate, Killington property owner Joe Swenson '08 said that he believes secession "is not going to happen" and then explained that if Killington were to secede to New Hampshire, the mountain which contains the Killington ski facility would remain a part of Vermont and the town surrounding the mountain would go to New Hampshire. Swenson added that this "donut shape" would be complicated and virtually impossible to manage.

Essentially the tax dilemma is a political issue. According to Colander, the secession debate "keeps pressure on the legislature to keep searching for alternative solutions. In and of itself, the plan to secede has no result, but it can have a large impact if its presence in the media keeps the issue in the forefront of the legislature."

In that vein, Killington town officials are now drafting a bill to present to the New Hampshire Legislature, whose approval they would require before going through with secession.