Town Meeting Day and Tax increases

[KingsFourMan]

So, the new $100,000,000 Woodstock High School got shot down as expected huh?

[GMCrra]

It was 30 million cheaper before COVID to build it, maybe they should wait for the real recession to hit before pulling a trigger on that.

Either that or reverse the school year in killington from summers to winters off and let the kids go to school in one of the new base lodges during the summer months and pay Killington a lease LOL. Build a new Bear lodge and double duty it as the high school.

30% tax increases in a town trying to build a ski village for 2nd homeowners isn't a good idea. You'll drive non-resident people to put their money elsewhere.

[Big Bob]

So, the new $100,000,000 Woodstock High School got shot down as expected huh?

Yup, 55% no, 45% yes

https://www.vnews.com/Woodstock-School- ... s-54238019

[Bubba]

So, the new $100,000,000 Woodstock High School got shot down as expected huh?

Yup, 55% no, 45% yes

https://www.vnews.com/Woodstock-School- ... s-54238019

The school budget also went down to defeat, one of the 29 districts (out of 95 or so) to reject proposed school budgets.

[ski]

But the town reelected Haff . . . . WTF

[daytripper]

At least the pot vote passed and we will have a dispensary on the access road soon!

[Big Bob]

So, the new $100,000,000 Woodstock High School got shot down as expected huh?

Yup, 55% no, 45% yes

https://www.vnews.com/Woodstock-School- ... s-54238019

The school budget also went down to defeat, one of the 29 districts (out of 95 or so) to reject proposed school budgets.

Are you sure about that? I read that after Woodstocks votes where counted the budget had passed.

[Bubba]

So, the new $100,000,000 Woodstock High School got shot down as expected huh?

Yup, 55% no, 45% yes

https://www.vnews.com/Woodstock-School- ... s-54238019

The school budget also went down to defeat, one of the 29 districts (out of 95 or so) to reject proposed school budgets.

Are you sure about that? I read that after Woodstocks votes where counted the budget had passed.

I thought it had failed but I’ll double check.


Edit: You’re right. It passed after the Woodstock votes came in.

[Bubba]

In case you missed it the Woodstock school replacement project is now on hold indefinitely.

https://vtdigger.org/2024/06/30/new-woo ... efinitely/

[ski]

In case you missed it the Woodstock school replacement project is now on hold indefinitely.

https://vtdigger.org/2024/06/30/new-woo ... efinitely/

Hope all the whiners in Killington enjoy sending their kids to a school that is sub-standard and falling apart . . . You had your chance, now you have to simply deal with it . .

[deadheadskier]

Maybe the Rockefellers can make something happen in Woodstock.

Kind of surprising one of the gold towns in VT allowed their current facilities to age out so badly and didn't get this taken care of sooner. It took 15 years and the threat of closure for our schools to get voted to be rebuilt in our town, but we live in a largely middle class town. I would have figured the Uber wealthy who reside in Woodstock would have less of a challenge.

[KingsFourMan]

Maybe the Rockefellers can make something happen in Woodstock.

Kind of surprising one of the gold towns in VT allowed their current facilities to age out so badly and didn't get this taken care of sooner. It took 15 years and the threat of closure for our schools to get voted to be rebuilt in our town, but we live in a largely middle class town. I would have figured the Uber wealthy who reside in Woodstock would have less of a challenge.

Woodstock is only one of several towns that Attend the Woodstock High School - Barnard, Bridgwater, Killington, Plymouth, Pittsfield, Pomfret, and Reading all also attend Woodstock High School and none of them are anywhere near uber wealthy. Far from it. There are lots of people that own second homes in those towns that are well off but most of the full-time residents who send their kids to that school are not wealthy by any means. It's not surprising that these residents who struggle with Vermont's extremely high cost of living, high taxes, and limited economy opportunity shot down a new $100M school that was going to raise their taxes even more.

[deadheadskier]

Gotcha. I was unaware of the other towns involved in the matter.

Word of caution to those kicking the can down the road. Our town went through the exact same thing recently. It took 15 years to finally get the votes. The project cost doubled in that time. Not only that, but the state also stopped kicking in school construction aid funds. 15 years ago the state would have contributed towards some of that lesser cost.

The longer they wait, the more it's going to cost folks

[Bubba]

Gotcha. I was unaware of the other towns involved in the matter.

Word of caution to those kicking the can down the road. Our town went through the exact same thing recently. It took 15 years to finally get the votes. The project cost doubled in that time. Not only that, but the state also stopped kicking in school construction aid funds. 15 years ago the state would have contributed towards some of that lesser cost.

The longer they wait, the more it's going to cost folks

As far as state funding goes, Vermont and Woodstock have the opposite problem. The state stopped funding school construction years ago and, in this year's school tax funding bill (aka the yield bill) they have removed the exemption school districts get for school construction debt from the calculation of spending per pupil. In other words, if a school previously issued bonds for school construction, that debt would not count toward cost per pupil in the way the state sends money to districts under Act 250 or its derivatives. Now, under the new yield bill, that debt would count in the cost per pupil calculation thus reducing funds the district would otherwise receive. (I'm no expert, but that's the way I understand how this works.) The issue of school construction funding is now supposed to be dealt with in the legislature's study of overall school funding that came out of the past two years gargantuan tax increases, each year between 10% - 20%.

[Mister Moose]

In my hometown the 2 primary schools were consolidated and one was expanded. That school is from the 50's. The non surviving primary school became the town library and meeting rooms. That was expanded and rehabbed during the transition. The current middle school looks like it's from the 30s, not sure. The High School was built the same time as Woodstock, but has no crisis. The Woodstock school should not be in the situation it is in. Buildings should have a much longer lifetime. Point is, there has been and continues to be mismanagement in Woodstock school system. Throwing money at a new school without fixing the mismanagement is not a good idea.