Photo by City of South Burlington
MIDDLEBURY | Dorn, who served as a commerce cabinet official in the administration of Gov. Jim Douglas, stressed that increasing the sales tax in South Burlington by even one percent will be an idea ultimately decided by voters on Town Meeting Day, which will be held around the state on Tuesday, March 5.
The option tax wouldn’t be the only vehicle by which the centers would be funded, Dorn stressed. “We expect a robust effort at private fundraising to support both projects,” he said. “There is already a foundation in place to support fundraising for the proposed recreation facility. Grants and further support from the state will also be pursued.”
The exact cost of construction hasn’t been determined yet, but Dorn has noted that the arts center has been thought of costing upwards of $30 million.
The most immediate issue for the South Burlington City Council and voters is going to be the question of increasing the local option tax. “If approved, the votes on actually incurring debt on the individual projects will not come until a later date,” Dorn said. “So, initially consideration will be on the funding source, and consideration of actually authorizing debt for the projects would come later this year or next.”
Other officials aren’t so sure of the wisdom of an option tax. State Sen. Chris Pearson, of South Burlington’s Chittenden County district, despite being a pro-tax Progressive/Democrat, isn’t exactly jumping on board for a new sales tax to fund the projects. “I am not a big fan of sales taxes in general because of their regressive nature,” Pearson said. “Local voters are the entity that will have to decide if they like this approach.”
Sen. Ginny Lyons: “Is an option tax a good thing or bad thing? Well, it’s hard to say. But municipalities such as South Burlington have the authority to do this — that is, raise the sales tax. The local option tax originated when school funding changed and took much of the benefit from having development and put that money into the education property tax,” she said.
Lyons said that towns with strong economies based on either welcoming tourists or out-of-town shoppers (or both) — such as Burlington, South Burlington and Williston — stand the most to benefit from option taxes, but there are some cautions.
On the subject of option taxes, University of Vermont economics professor Art Woolf has thoughts: “The question of an option tax will come down to whether the townspeople want this and what the impact will be,” he said. “It will make shopping in South Burlington a little less competitive than elsewhere. In Chittenden County the three main shopping areas are Burlington, South Burlington and Williston. In South Burlington it’s the University Mall, which isn’t doing all that well at the moment. … So, will an option tax discourage people from shopping in South Burlington? Maybe it will have the opposite effect and encourage Burlington and Williston to add another penny to their option tax.”
Note: An expanded version of this multi-part series first appeared on True North Reports online. This is the conclusion.
