Raise the Taxes
Of the Wealthy

As a member of the Randolph Select Board, I am (sometimes painfully) aware of how much it costs to run a town, and how much of that budget revenue comes from ordinary folks’ taxes. It’s no easier at the state level: Because of federal cutbacks in Medicaid funding and other reasons, our state is facing a budget deficit of between $75 and $150 million in fiscal year '07.

Clearly, our governor and this year’s legislature have their work cut out for them. However, the answer is NOT to enact budget cuts that affect services to low and moderate income citizens, seniors, or children. 

Housing, heating assistance, education, healthcare services, environmental protection, and other essential services are already seriously under-funded, and yet, are typically the first to be cut during budget balancing season. Nor is it fair to raise regressive taxes like sales, excise, or property taxes that bleed low-income and squeeze middle-income Vermonters.

There is another solution. Over the last five years, the most financially well-off among us have received substantial tax cuts at the federal level, and will keep on getting them for the next five. By raising the state income tax on only the top 5% of taxpayers with annual incomes over $125,000, we could reclaim a significant amount of revenue lost by federal cuts. 

Those at $125K would be asked to pay only a small amount more, while people at higher income levels would pay increasingly larger amounts. By closing the capital gains tax loophole, expanding the base of the sales tax to include several currently untaxed professional services, and eliminating the deductibility of state and local taxes from federal tax liability, we could reduce the budget deficit even more.

Each of these options would also contain built-in exemptions for low and middle-income taxpayers.

Asking our wealthiest neighbors to kick in a more equitable share of the taxes is already working in other states like California, New Jersey, and North Carolina. There’s no reason why Vermont, with its reputation for service to our most vulnerable citizens, can’t do the same.

This year, the Fair Share Tax bill, sponsored by Rep. Gini Milkey (D-Brattleboro), will be introduced into the legislature. I urge my fellow community members, and all Vermonters, to gather more information from the VT Fairness Alliance at vfeep.org, or 802-578-7325. Then, call your local legislators and ask them to support it too.

Dawn E. Butterfield

Randolph