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Topics - Carolyn Branagan
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61
« on: May 12, 2011, 06:37:11 PM »
I was glad to hear the Fairfax Selectboard tell me Monday night there has been very little property damage in Fairfax from the recent flooding. Other communities are not so lucky. Along the Georgia Shore Road, there are dozens of camps that will require extensive repair, and may not be usable again at all.
I've asked to hear from local officials in the county as to how they are responding to requests for abatement resulting from the flood damage. As many readers know, towns have a system for considering requests for abatement from property taxes for owners whose property is no longer worth the amount for which it was assessed when the Grand List was lodged. The Education Grand List has to be sent to the state Tax Department annually by April 1. A lot has happened to lakeshore property values since April 1. Fairfax was lucky.
Abatement happens most often with fires, but can also happen for floods. When a property owner has a fire it has been customary to provide some property tax relief due to the loss of use as a result of destruction of property. That can include a refund of taxes paid on a percentage of the overall tax bill or forgiveness of tax owed. In the case of a flood such as we are experiencing now, many property owners will not be able to use their properties for much of the summer, and damage will be major.
The school funding law requires towns to set the tax amount owed based on the assessment in Education Grand list effective April 1, 2011. Abatements granted by local Boards will not affect the overall amount owed by a town, under our current law, but of course an abatement would change the amount owed by an individual taxpayer. I'm trying to figure out the best plan for who should pick up the difference. A legislative change to our school tax law may be needed given the unusual circumstances we are experiencing this spring.
So it will be interesting to hear from listers and Boards of Civil Authority (or Abatement) in flood damaged areas on how they plan to make decisions. I'll let you know if I hear anything interesting.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Georgia/Fairfax
62
« on: May 10, 2011, 04:28:29 PM »
The legislature started the task of preparing the fiscal year 2012 budget knowing there was a $176 million shortfall in revenue. Most of the deficit came from the loss of $158m in ARRA funds. Like many other states we received the ARRA funds for a few years, but for fiscal 2012 this money from the federal government was stopped. Along with about a $20 million gap of our own doing, the total deficit for the 2012 budget came to $176 million.
Throughout the session, debate has centered on how much money should be spent and from where the needed extra revenue, if any, would come. In the end the 2012 budget as presented was balanced. This was achieved through a combination of spending reductions, one-time revenues, health care provider assessments, a health claims assessment, and tobacco tax changes. There is also a $23 million reduction in the education fund transfer.
Here’s how the 2012 budget gap was closed:
$60 million from one time revenues
$87 million from budget cuts and transfers
$24 million from new revenue in Misc Tax
Coming to agreement is never easy with a large group of people. In addition, the extremely liberal make up of the current legislature makes the starting point very far to the left. The work to bring the final product back to center is tough. My areas of concentration have been on limiting tax impact for hospitals (the final impact was $5.4 million, down from $17.4 million starting point) limiting impact on dental care (final impact was $650,000, down from $6million starting point) and making sure school taxes remained reasonable (homestead is at $.87 and non-resident is at $1.36, both as voted on town meeting day).
Representative Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
63
« on: May 05, 2011, 12:05:00 PM »
Hi Folks,
Below I have pasted a letter I received today from the Red Cross Director for Vermont and New Hampshire. It contains a summary of efforts to help those displaced by the flooding and contact information for those still in need. Remember you can also contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
Here's the letter:
Dear Legislator,
Vermont remains in the midst of significant flooding. The American Red Cross has been active with State and private partners to assist throughout this period. Please allow me to take just a moment of your time to provide an update as to some of the activities we have been, and remain, engaged in to provide assistance to affected individuals and communities.
We presently have 25 cases open, providing assistance to 70 individuals. The primary form of assistance has been with lodging, placing individuals and families in hotels/motels as close to their homes as is feasible. Additionally, some of those we have helped have been provided financial assistance for food and clothing. Referrals to additional resources (State, community, etc.) are also provided. Some, but I am sure not an exhaustive list, of the towns where we have helped people would include: St. Johnsbury, Burlington, Derby, Beecher Falls, Essex Jct., Colchester, St. Albans, Cambridge/Jeffersonville. In several towns, including Johnson and Isle LaMotte, we have been in contact with local officials and they are aware of the services the American Red Cross can provide.
In addition to these individual cases referenced above, it is worth noting that we have had a shelter opened in St. Albans for the past 3 days to assist should any families need shelter from the rising lake level. A significant component to our initial response last week was to assist an additional 30+ families (over 75 additional individuals) in the Cambridge/Jeffersonville area. Exemplifying the importance of community partners, those displaced families were provided lodging through the generous support of Smuggler’s Notch and we did not need to open a public shelter. The Red Cross arranged for meals, preparing many from our Mobile Kitchen Unit.
During this crisis, we have provided 100 clean up and comfort kits, over 400 meals, over 550 snacks, deployed 6 Red Cross vehicles into the field and relied on over 20 volunteers to help provide the assistance described in this e-mail.
The Red Cross is actively assessing damage throughout the region. Continued rain and rising water levels are expected to translate into an increase in demand for Red Cross services. We remain active with our State and private partners in trying to address and anticipate additional needs.
Our response to the flooding comes on the heels of a major fire in Brattleboro, where we have assisted close to 50 families displaced by that disaster.
Should you have any questions about our ongoing response to this disaster, please feel free to contact me. If I cannot address your specific question, I will be certain to share it with a member of our Disaster Services staff.
Thank you,Doug Bishop
Doug Bishop
Director of Community Partnerships & Education
+ American Red Cross
Vermont & The New Hampshire Valley Region
bishop@nvtredcross.org
802-660-9130 ext. 123
64
« on: April 25, 2011, 07:22:30 PM »
Several Franklin County farmers have told me the state's Current Use program is the reason they are able to continue farming. The 30 year old program taxes agricultural land and forest land for its 'use' in production not its 'value' for development. The program is designed to reduce the property tax burden on productive farm and timberland, but forces a landowner who wants to develop his land to pay a penalty. This results in a huge property tax savings for about 80% of Vermont's farmers and landowners. It is the reason so much of Vermont's working landscape is maintained and productive. The program is not without detractors.
On Friday last week, the Ways & Means Committee voted out an amended version of a bill that proposes to make substantial changes to the Current Use program.
The bill is similar to one that passed the House and Senate last year, but was vetoed by Governor Douglas. Like last year's, this bill would substantially alter the penalty for withdrawing property from Current Use.
Under current law, a landowner must pay a penalty based on the proportional value of the parcel being withdrawn. For example, if a 100 acre property was valued at $100,000, the landowner could carve out a 10 acre parcel for development. The penalty is based on a valuation of $10,000 - even if the fair market value of the new 10 acre parcel was now worth $50,000 as a buildable lot. Under the last year's proposal, a 10% withdrawal penalty would be assessed on the fair market value of the 10 acre parcel standing alone ($50,000 in this example) - not its proportional value ($10,000).
This year's proposal is similar, in that the valuation basis will be the same (fair market value of the new, stand-alone parcel) but it differs because it proposes a tiered penalty structure that is based on the length of time the land is in the program, with the same owner, rather than a flat 10% penalty. The concept of a tiered penalty was offered by a coalition of diverse interest groups who spent a considerable amount of time developing a consensus recommendation on changes to the Current Use program. This coalition represented a range of organizations including conservation groups like the Vermont Land Trust and the Vermont Natural Resources Council and landowner groups like the Vermont Sugarmakers Association and the Vermont Forest Products Association.
Although the committee adopted the coalition's suggestion of tiering the penalty, it did not adopt the specific recommendations on the penalty amounts. The coalition's consensus recommendation was:
Withdrawal within 12 years of enrollment: 10% penalty
Enrolled for 12 - 20 years: 5%
Enrolled for more than 20 years: 3%
The Ways and Means committee adopted the following harsher penalty schedule instead:
Withdrawal within 12 years of enrollment: 10% penalty
Enrolled for 12 - 20 years: 8%
Enrolled for more than 20 years: 5%
Obviously this changes the rules of the game for landowners who are already enrolled in the program, so an 'easy out' provision was added. It allows landowners to get out of the program within a prescribed timeframe without paying a penalty.
The committee voted by a very narrow margin (6-5) to adopt the stricter penalty schedule, and ultimately voted out the bill favorably on a 7-4 vote. I was one of the no votes because I felt the Committee should have acknowledged the work of the Coalition. Getting so many groups to agree on a proposal was a nearly impossible task. We really should have supported them.
The bill will be voted on in the House this week, and will pass over to the Senate, which is unlikely to take action on it this year.
Contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
65
« on: April 25, 2011, 07:21:15 PM »
The legislature is creeping towards the end of the first year of the biennial session. If May 7 really will be the adjournment day, then there are 3 must pass bills still to go: the Miscellaneous Tax Bill, the FY12 budget and the single payer health care bill. The first two bills were voted out of the Senate late last week. With significant changes made from House versions, both are certainly headed for conference committee. Debate on the single payer health care bill began in the halls of the statehouse on Monday this week and Vermonters can expect more fireworks as it gets closer to a vote.
Last week, the Ways & Means Committee voted out H456, a proposal that would provide an option for developers of solar energy projects to take cash grants in instead of the tax credits that were originally offered. This was all part of the solar tax credit program that I wrote about at length last year at the very end of the session. It was extremely controversial. By providing a choice of either a cash grant or a tax credit, developers could choose the option that would be most financially advantageous to their business. The fact that the plan left the state's Clean Energy Development Fund with less money for future renewable energy projects didn't seem to register with supporters of the proposal. I voted 'no' on H456 and it's likely I'll continue to vote that way for most of the next two weeks.
If you want some common sense, contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
66
« on: April 21, 2011, 05:31:07 PM »
One of the bills to be considered this week strengthens the medical worker law. Early in the session I heard from several area health care professionals concerning the disturbing incidence of nurses getting hurt by patients. It’s hard to believe, but often our nurses are punched, tripped, hit, cut or experience other acts of physical harm while attempting to take care of their patients. Law changes would make this a more serious offense: a felony. And it would be punishable with jail time.
I plan to support this change when it comes to the floor for vote. Contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
67
« on: April 21, 2011, 05:25:19 PM »
Vermont was fortunate to withstand the staggering drop in real estate appraisal values other states experienced during this recession. But now land values here are declining too. This was reflected in the Common Level of Appraisal (CLA) for both towns in the legislative district at Town Meeting time. Statewide land values are declining for the first time in many years. This decline is especially attention worthy because our school funding mechanism is based on property tax.
Fiscal personnel here at the statehouse are advising that although both the Homestead and Non-resident statewide tax rates will go up a cent, the total amount of money collected for the Education Fund for fiscal year 2012 will go down. This is due to the decreased values of property. The amount generated by the Homestead property tax will be about $4 million more than this year, a drop in the bucket for a $1.3 billion fund. But Non-resident property tax will bring in about $12 million less than this year, causing an overall statewide decrease in Education property tax collected.
Keep in mind that for two years in a row school boards statewide have decreased spending, an incredibly difficult job. The number of pupils continues to decrease, a trend that began in the late 1990’s. What we need to concentrate on is keeping the quality of the education our children receive at a top notch level.
For more information contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
68
« on: April 21, 2011, 05:05:23 PM »
The statehouse is an extremely busy place these days. Adjournment is still targeted for May 7 and committees are meeting into the evenings in both the House and Senate.
One of the bills in which the House Ways and Means had interest was S.94, a bill that made several changes to motor vehicle law. One of the changes is allowing the ignition interlock device for use by drivers convicted of drunk driving. If this bill is signed into law, starting with the first offense these drivers will have to blow into the device connected to the steering wheel. The device can tell if the driver has been drinking. If no alcohol is detected, the car starts.
One question that came up in committee was how the state will be able to tell if someone else blows into the interlock device. The machine takes pictures at uneven frequencies; they are later reviewed and matched to photos of the convicted drunk driver. Drivers convicted of DUI can use this kind of monitor by agreeing to pay all costs including installation and maintenance, and also pay a fee of $125. The fee covers costs and administration of the program incurred by the state. If the convicted drunk driver does not agree to pay these costs, they go through the usual time of no driving at all thanks to a suspended license and probation.
Feel free to contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
69
« on: April 08, 2011, 11:48:07 AM »
March revenue figures are in. You'll remember that the legislature prepares the annual budget based on estimates of monthly revenue. The estimates are created from all sorts of data and we try to be as accurate as possible, but the recession has made the predicting of tax revenue very difficult and at the end of the month, when it is time to compare estimates to actual money received, I always hold my breath.
I am pleased to report that the General Fund has made a huge jump in revenue. The state ended the month of February $4.3 million below estimates, but somehow managed to bring in enough revenue in the last few weeks so that we ended the month of March $1.7 million ahead. That means we took in about $6 million during the last month above what we predicted. That's a huge amount of money
Why/how did this happen? Withholding was up $2.5 million, refunds owed by the state were much less than estimated and the Estate Tax continues to climb.
The Transportation Fund is down slightly because of the increasing price of gasoline. The Education Fund holds its own. There does not seem to be an underlying trend that should cause money committees to be less cautious in spending. It is too early to say money is loosening up, but this past month was definitely better than we have seen in a long time.
Lots of good forces are at work to make the fiscal picture a little brighter as we enter the third quarter of the fiscal year. Contact me at cranking@leg.state.vt.us for more information.
Representative Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
70
« on: March 26, 2011, 10:08:50 AM »
It was the most difficult week I have ever spent in Montpelier! Really. Hours of floor debate, dozens of amendments, speeches (none of them mine) , harsh conversations in the hall designed to change votes (don't worry, I can hold my own) ........all this and more as three important bills moved from committee to the House floor and finally to the Senate.
First, the Miscellaneous Tax bill came up. I did a lot of work to get rid of a $6 million tax on dentists and add a tax provision that helps a furniture company in the northeast kingdom stay in business. Sadly, the tax school tax reduction I proposed did not survive.
The Universal Health Care bill still has a lot of problems. I am very worried this bill will become law. Elderly residents will be advised to not continue supplementary policies to cover the gap left by Medicare coverage, but there is no indication Green Mountain health will cover the gap. The same goes for Medicare part D patients who now qualify for Vpharm, we don't know if their coverage will continue or not. Employers who offer employee health care plans will have to pay into the state plan too. One third of the Northwest Med Center doctors who attended a meeting last Wednesday night indicated they will leave the state if this bill becomes law. The bill is trouble and should die in the Senate or be drastically rewritten.
Last was the Appropriations bill. State spending is up 7.7%, but when federal funds are added, the budget figures look like spending is down more than 3%.
I appreciate input from all of you. Contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us.
It's too cold here to sugar, so this afternoon I'm making doughnuts. Sally Sweet gave me the recipe about 20 years ago. Always comes out great.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1. Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
71
« on: March 18, 2011, 04:25:26 PM »
OK, so miracles happen! I met with the Speaker, talked with the chair of my committee, some fiscal people who work here and others on the committee. Eventually we came out with a better solution. There was a motion to reconsider my amendment (the one that failed yesterday) and it was approved. I was delighted. But there's more ......after a few other advantageous changes, the Misc. Tax bill was up for final vote in committee. It was approved WITH my school amendment, the one that will lower taxes for school districts that met their Challenge for Change goal. Now, on to the House floor Tuesday. Stay tuned. The game isn't over. What a great job this is!
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
72
« on: March 18, 2011, 07:13:18 AM »
I was quite disappointed yesterday when the Ways and Means committee defeated my proposal that would have lowered the homestead property tax by one penney for school districts that met their Challenges for Change goal. The vote was 5 to 5 with one member absent. When there is a tie, the vote fails. Instead the committee decided to raise school taxes!
Challenges for Change put Vermont school board members in a terrible position, but 17 supervisory union districts slogged through budget details and made cuts anyway, because the state asked them to. I am especially proud of the school boards in my district for doing so, Georgia and Fairfax.
I was not elected by lobbyists or unions or even by a political party. I was elected by the voters and I am accountable to them. It was on their behalf I offered this amendment to lower their taxes. There is enough money in the Ed Fund to lower taxes, but sadly, by one vote the message became, 'Thanks for saving us some money, now we're going to spend it on something else.' What are these people thinking?
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
73
« on: March 17, 2011, 07:34:45 PM »
At long last ! On Thursday the Vermont House finally approved H.264, Nick's Bill. The bill is intended to prevent harm to families in our state due to the reckless actions of repeated drunk drivers. We've waited a long time for the bill to be approved, I'll avoid rehashing all the reasons. Tomorrow the bill will be up for third reading and then it goes on to the Senate. I'm really looking forward to the day when it is signed into law.
Representative Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
74
« on: March 14, 2011, 06:57:33 PM »
Last week the Ways and Means Committee heard a report on tax revenues for February and it left me feeling a little uneasy. This was a report on actual tax collections versus the estimates. Sometimes the estimates are way off, and I've learned that it pays to figure out why. The Transportation Fund is holding it's own with nothing dramatically out of whack. The Education Fund also is performing fairly well. The General Fund however is more difficult to read because there are so many different taxes used to fill it. Overall the General Fund is $4.3 million below estimates for the entire year, with a whopping $5million deficit showing for the month of February. When I looked more deeply at where the shortfall was, I saw $2.3 million was from a court settlement payout, an outflow for the state. Sales and Use tax showed no change from last month. Corporate tax still was in good shape, up $1 million over last month. Rooms/Meals tax and Property Transfer tax both showed no change. So where was the problem?
Personal Income tax. Filings were about 10% below expectation. Refunds were just about on target, but remember March is the biggest refund month,so February should be higher than a normal month. To my surprise nearly all the shortfall was in withholdings from personal income tax, over $4million less than last month. This bothers me because I'm not sure yet how to read that. February is often a month when unemployment runs high, but with the great skiing weather I thought seasonal employment would be booming. Withholdings are significantly down. Are businesses still very worried about the economy? Have a lot of workers been recently laid off and just don't yet show up on our unemployment statistics? I'll watch carefully for additional cues as to what is happening in our state economy and will be sure to let you know when there's something to report.
In the meantime, you can contact me at cbranagan@leg.state.vt.us. I want to hear from you.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives
75
« on: March 14, 2011, 01:58:31 PM »
YES NO Not Sure
1. Should Vermont Yankee license be renewed? 51 21 9
2. Should drivers be prohibited from using cell 63 14 5
phones while driving?
3. Should Vermont legalize physician assisted 19 52 11
suicide?
4. Should Vermont have a 4 yr term for governor? 51 20 11
5. Should there be a mandatory minimum sentence 72 6 4
for repeat DUI drivers?
6. Should Vermonters be required to buy 24 44 14
health insurance?
7. Do you have confidence in Gov.Shumlin? 26 33 21
8. Should Vermont continue to require the use 74 5 3
of motorcycle helmets?
9. Should law enforcement personnel be 63 4 15
permitted to use Tasers?
10. Should the Vermont legislature encourage 56 15 10
bicycling and walking?
11. Should Vermont's bottle deposit law be 66 12 4
expanded to include all bottled beverages?
12. Are you willing to pay more for 49 24 9
locally grown food?
13. In order to encourage wind, solar and other 34 35 11
renewable energy sources, are you willing to
pay higher prices?
Rep. Carolyn Branagan
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