Second-home taxes aren’t fair

Dear Editor,

In our state, we care deeply about community and equity. There is now a clear battle over state identity when it comes to proposals to create a second-home tax. Is Vermont still Vermont if we remove the incentive for second homes? 

There seems to be a prevailing notion that most second homes belong to wealthy out-of-staters, driving up housing prices and pushing out Vermonters from Vermont. The emotional truth of this tax is to remove these out-of-staters so we can lower costs. 

This ignores the reality that second homes are part of the economic story that pushes Vermont forward. Tourism created partly by these second homes accounts for 9% of our state’s total GDP. If we create a negative incentive on second homes, we could drive away those valuable out-of-state dollars. The U.S. Supreme Court restricts states’ ability to levy property taxes that discriminate against out-of-staters. This will force legislators to levy this tax on all second homes, defeating the emotional purpose of this tax.

If we want to tax our tourism sector more heavily, other taxes can meet the moment. Higher dining taxes, city taxes and even tolls on interstates begin to make sense. Vermont cannot lean on a second-home tax to effectively target wealthy out-of-staters. 

Dan Kronlund

South Burlington, Vt.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Second-home taxes aren’t fair.

Courtesy of VT Digger