Appropriate Taxation

A non-resident should never pay a lower property tax rate than a resident. This unfair levy is taking place this year in Calais and has happened recently in both Marshfield and Plainfield. It occurs due to the opaque manner in which the education tax is calculated.

Another area of concern is the lack of a reasonable method for towns to recoup costs when there is special infrastructure that poses risk. Presently, Plainfield and Marshfield taxpayers subsidize Green Mountain Power’s Marshfield Dam in regard to emergency services. Since the dam itself is in the town of Cabot, the towns down-stream receive little or no revenue but carry the heavy burden of emergency response to dam crises (and there has been at least one since 2011). Please note that GMP hosts  dam emergency trainings for Marshfield & Plainfield fire departments which implies the gravity of the situation.  The law needs to change so that towns that are tasked with policing heavy infrastructure receive just compensation for their efforts.

In addition, all towns should have the ability to implement the 1% excise sales tax without delay to offset budgetary stress. These are just a few of the taxation issues I hope to address.