By Giulia CarbonaroShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberHomeowners in Vermont are likely to face a 12 percent increase in their property tax bill next fiscal year as public schools in the state face dwindling budgets, the Vermont Tax Department warned.
This is “bad news” for Vermont homeowners, Vermont Tax Commissioner Bill Shouldice said in a letter. “Our education funding system cannot continue as it is. Vermonters are asked to pay significantly more, year after year, to educate fewer students.”
Why It Matters
Property taxes have increased all across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by the rise of home prices. Higher bills, however, have contributed to the growing financial burden carried by homeowners, who are also facing elevated borrowing costs and rising homeowner insurance premiums.
For many Americans, the burden has proved unsustainable: In the second quarter of 2025, Census Bureau data revealed that the U.S. homeownership rate was flat at 65 percent, the lowest level since 2019.
...What To Know
Shouldice announced the expected increase in a letter published on December 1. The letter, which forecasts the education tax yields for resident homeowners and the non-homestead tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year 2027, said that property tax bills are likely to increase by a statewide average of 11.9 percent.
Education spending is also expected to increase. On a per-pupil basis, the expected growth in spending is forecast to be 6.8 percent on average, Shouldice wrote, or $14,892, up from $13,947 for fiscal year 2026.
The estimates are based on calculations outlined in state law, the letter specifies, and are a result of collaboration between the Vermont Department of Taxes, Agency of Education, Department of Finance and Management, and Legislative Joint Fiscal Office.
“If this increase takes effect, Vermonters’ property taxes for education will have gone up nearly 41 percent over the past five years,” Shouldice wrote in the letter, which was addressed to state Senate President Phil Baruth and state House Speaker Jill Krowinski.
Newsweek contacted Baruth and Krowinski for comment by email on Wednesday.
What People Are Saying
Vermont Education Secretary Zoie Saunders, in a statement reported by local news channel WCAX: “We are contending with two enormous challenges: property taxes that families cannot afford and an education system that local communities cannot sustain.”
Vermont Senate President Phil Baruth said, as reported by WCAX, that there is a need “to advance reforms that will foster an equitable education system for all of Vermont’s children at a price that’s affordable, predictable and stable for Vermont’s families. But we will need Vermonters’ support to make it happen.”
House Speaker Jill Krowinski: “We can make real, meaningful change to provide better educational opportunities for our kids. Taking no action is not an option.”
What Happens Next
In his letter, Shouldice warned that another increase in property taxes could seriously hinder young families’ ability to buy homes in Vermont.
“If we allow this landscape to persist, we cannot seriously expect young and growing families to buy homes and settle in Vermont; local voters to approve budgets; or seniors on fixed incomes to retire comfortably in Vermont,” he wrote.
The answer, he said, is a bold reform of the state’s education system that would involve fewer and larger school districts.
“Vermont is at a crossroads with the urgent need to choose: We can continue to painfully cut our education costs to maintain our outdated and expensive system—which we hear from school leaders is already happening as costs outside of their control continue to rise,” he wrote.
“Or we can follow through on last year’s agreement to transform that system into the best in the nation, so it is sustainable and equitable and provides a world-class education for Vermont’s kids, regardless of what town they live in.”
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