Welcome to The Plymouth Press Online

Reprinted with permission from The Vermont Standard

2/12/24

What a delightful sunny week we just experienced – even temps of 50 degrees! Now on Monday we are waiting to see how far north this snow will reach. A kind neighbor power washed my car yesterday, so it is waiting on the weather, as well.

The Plymouth Reading Group will be discussing The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey by Serena Burdick on 2/14 at 6:30 PM via zoom (thanks to Rose Vetere). I found it to be a heady read and imagine it will generate interesting dialogue.

Fun things are happening at the Schoolhouse these days. Thanks to Lauren for providing some pictures of preparing for Valentine’s Day. May our hearts be moved to love this week, too!

I would venture a guess that we are all trying to make sense of the financial picture these days. The purported needs are so great and the sums requested seem overwhelming. It will important to review our Town Budget and make note of any questions. Perhaps they could be presented to the Select Board ahead of time, giving the Selectmen a heads-up so that detailed answers can be given at Town Meeting.

Attached please find town budget information below. In speaking with Angela this morning, they are awaiting delivery of the town reports from the printer. Also, I have included an email from Elliot Rubin with places to learn more about the Mountain Views Supervisory Union budget and new building construction.

Due to this last minute Vermont legislative activity, there are still a lot of moving parts that will go into this year’s school budget and its ultimate effect on Plymouth taxes. I think the best way to become informed about the School Budget is to attend the informational session on February 29th at 6:30pm at the Woodstock MS/HS Library or via zoon. The warnings for that session and the Annual Meeting on March 5th, 2024, are here: https://mtnviews.org/wcuusd-budget-information and I’ve attached them to this email as well.

Elliot Rubin, MD, FAAP

Mount Views School District Plymouth Representative

Ludlow, VT: The Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce recently celebrated the grand opening of Little Mexico in the Okemo Marketplace Plaza. Everyone is thrilled to welcome Little Mexico to Okemo Valley, and the grand opening has been a great success. Stop by to try their delicious enchiladas, tacos, margaritas, and so much more! In addition to Mexican food and drinks served bar side and in the dining room, the restaurant provides catering and hosts events. 

For the ribbon ceremony, Owner Oscar Torres cut the ribbon with two of his team members behind him, Tim McEnaney (left) and General Manager Casey Crompton (right). Assistant Chamber Director Leah Krieble (left) and Chamber Executive Director Carol Lighthall (right) holding the ribbon. Photo by Images by Donald Dill.

For more information on places to dine and drink locally, visit our website www.yourplaceinvermont.com.

The Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit, member-driven association and the voice of 300+ businesses and the communities of 12 Towns & Villages in South Central Vermont from the VT Scenic Route 100 Byway to Interstate Route 91, and surrounded by Okemo, Ascutney & Magic Mountains. OVRCC provides advocacy, support, and unified regional marketing to promote and enhance businesses in the region as well as the four-season economy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Carol Lighthall, Executive Director, Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce

clighthall@yourplaceinvermont.com 802-228-5830

The Plymouth VT Historical Society is open Sunday afternoons from 2 to 4 pm. It’s located in the former Plymouth Elementary School on Route 100 in Plymouth Union.

Visit our museum or do research on your Plymouth ancestors. Watch for the “OPEN” flag.

Reprinted with permission from The Vermont Standard

2/5/24

What a difference sunshine makes! Even on cold days, it lifts my spirits. Funny how 30 degrees begins to feel warm, too. I have been enjoying seeing the rainbows in the icicles that are hanging from my roof.

Depending upon your interests, the Fletcher Memorial Library book discussion of The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore will be this evening at 6 PM. Also, the Select Board meeting will be tonight at 6 PM. Agenda is below.

For those who would prefer an outdoor activity, the Farm and Wilderness snow shoe outing is Saturday, 2/10. For more information and to register, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/o/farm-wilderness-conservation 

Continue reading →

Reprinted with permission from The Vermont Standard

1/20/24

On this cloudy Monday, the snow is still spitting from the steel-colored sky. I relished the brief sun on Saturday for my grandson, Landon’s ski race, but it was fleeting. It is also becoming a problem where to plow the mounds of snow that are encroaching on my turnaround! Lengthening daylight hours should lift our spirits…




Last Thursday I had to wait for a long line of out-of-state cars in order to turn left onto Rte 100 North. The predicted snow apparently brought skiers to VT early for the weekend. It can be tricky navigating the roads these days. On the way back from a basketball game last week, a tractor trailer had jackknifed between the mountains on Rte 100 south of Ludlow.




There are still phone issues for the town building, so please take note that you can utilize 802-500-1815 to reach the Town office and 802-500-1816 for the Fire Dept. Of course, 911 is still the number to report an issue. Angela also tells me there are many free Covid tests available, right inside the building door.




There is considerable talk of finances in advance of Town Meeting and the probable increase in taxes. With permission from the Mountain Times, I am including below an article from a couple of weeks ago that might provide some insights into the huge bond issue for the proposed new middle/high school in Woodstock. Although the need seems apparent, it is quite complicated and confusing to understand the options. Each voter will need to make his/her own decision, but I will attempt to provide details and information, hopefully without opinions!



https://mountaintimes.info/mvsd-to-increase-budget-without-penalty/
January 10, 2024

MVSD to increase budget without penalty

Act 127’s new weighting formula, allows up to 10% increase with 5% cap on the equalized tax rate; rising property values aren’t capped

By Curt Peterson and Polly Mikula


Courtesy Ben Ford, MVSU




The chart below shows the projected FY25 tax rates for each district town; the $1.5984 rate in the first row is the 5% capped rate per Act 127; the CLA is a factor to estimate real property values.




The Mountain View Supervisory Union (MVSU) board approved a proposed district school budget of $30,429,153 for FY2025 at their board meeting Monday, Jan. 8. The school district budget (Article 6) will be on the ballots of the seven towns that make up the district — Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Pittsfield, Pomfret, Reading and Woodstock — on Town Meeting day, March 5.




Despite this year’s budget increasing $4.6 million, or 17.8%, over last year, “the equalized tax rate will increase by a flat 5% from FY24 to FY25 due to the application of a cap going into effect with Act 127 (new pupil weights),” Ben Ford, chair of the finance committee presented at the board meeting.
Act 127 allows districts that keep to under 10% over last year’s per pupil cost to pay an increase of only 5% for the next five years. Under the new weighting formulas — designed to more accurately reflect the true cost of educating students at different ages and demographics — the state calculated the Long Term Weighted (LTW) students (new term) to be 1,520 students this year vs. 918 last year under the old weighting formula.




Weighting factors apply differently per grade level, poverty, sparsity (rural populations), learners of English as a second language, and size of school. The base rate for the weight also changed drastically under Act 127. Before the weighting was applied to $15,479 per student; now it’s $9,452.



Up to 10% ‘free’




Because there is no direct local tax rate increase as long as the district stays under the 10% threshold, according to Act 127, districts can spend right up to that point and still receive the cap of 5%. Thus, the MVSU board voted Monday night to include paying off $750,000 of its debt, as doing so still keeps the budget under the 10% threshold.




“We have an opportunity to reduce capital debt ahead of schedule with no impact to tax rates in FY25,” Ford explained.




That budget ($30,429,153) minus local revenues (estimated at $4,515,121) gives the district its education spending ($25,914,032), which is then divided by this year’s 1,520 LTW students for the per pupil cost of $17,048 and an equalized tax rate of $1.81 before the cap.




Last year, while the budget was lower at $25,836,048, the per pupil cost was much higher at $23,135 — but the new formulas make any comparison tricky.



CLA increases taxes




The per pupil spend divided by the property yield equals the equalized tax rate, which is then divided by each town’s Common Level of Appraisal (CLA) to get each town’s tax rate. While the equalized tax rate is capped at a 5% increase, the CLA is not capped — and is responsible for most of the increase district towns will see. Increases range from 8.66% in Pomfret (which recently did a reappraisal) to a 29.91% increase in Plymouth. Barnard, Killington and Woodstock will also see increases over 20% (see chart above).



“We’re seeing massive appreciation in property values, which is what the CLA is based on,” Ford said.


The lower a town’s CLA, the larger the adjustment in the property values that is applied to their tax rate. Killington’s CLA is lowest at .5235. This means for a Killington property valued on the Grand List at $500,000, the CLA adjusted taxable value is about $952,000.




New build?

In addition to the budget, district voters will be asked to approve Article 7, a bond for a new school. The bond article says it will not exceed $99 million to finance construction of a new union middle/high school on the site of the existing school in Woodstock. The bond would also cover athletic field reconstruction and the demolition of the existing structure.




While state school construction aid has been suspended since 2007, the district “intends to use other state funding such as available tax capacity resulting from the implementation of new pupil weights under Act 127 of 2022 and amounts raised through private fundraising” to limit financial impacts of the bond for taxpayers.
Ben Ford told the school district board members Monday night that the square foot cost of the proposed project was $627/square foot, which is under the revised state standards and lower than five other recent/current school construction projects in Vermont.




Ford will be attending Select Board meetings in district towns in the coming weeks to inform the public about the plans and answer questions.

Town of Plymouth, Vermont
Select Board – Special Meeting
Monday, January 29, 2024 @ 4:00 PM
Municipal Building Meeting Room
Agenda

1. Call Meeting to Order:
2. Consideration of Any Changes, Additions or Removals to Agenda:
3. Executive Session:

a. Human Resources

4. Adjourn: