The Tax Committee was an ad hoc committee and is now suspended.

Chair: John Schweizer,
Greensboro Town Meeting:  The annual gathering was held March 1, 2011 to elect town officers, approve the town budgets and authorize the select board to set a sufficient tax rate.  The voters approved a budget of $1,439,659 up 3.7% from 2010.  The percentage breakdown of the budget follows:
Roads 41.3%

Police 11.4%

Reserve Fund  9.7%   (Capital Equipment)

Town Administration  8.1%

Appropriations  7.8%

Plowing  6.0%

Fire Dept.  4.8%

Building & Grounds  4.4%

Finance & Taxes  3.5%

Other  3.0%
Non-Residents Still Float the Town:  In this year’s Town of Greensboro Annual Report, residential and non residential tax burdens were reported for the fiscal year 2009-2010.  Non-residential properties again accounted for 77% of the collected taxes for both town taxes and state school taxes.  Residential properties generated the remaining 23%.
2011 Tax Property Tax Rates:  Non-resident Greensboro property tax rate was lowered to 1.3500 for $100 assessed value.  This is down from 2010’s rate of $1.4178.  The 2011 resident combined tax rate is $1.3222 for $100 assessed value.  In total, the town will send $3,275,512 to Montpelier to fund education. We are currently investigating how much of that comes back to our fund our Greensboro students.
Upcoming Town Tax Issue: The Greensboro Fire Department and Select Board are close to finalizing the plans for a spacious state-of-the-art fire station.  The bond to fund this investment will fall directly on property owners in the town.  The Fire Department has been invited to present their plan at the Greensboro Association and solicit comments from the membership.
2010 versus 2000 Census:   Greensboro’s population decreased by 6, from 770 to 762.  614 of are over 18 versus 601 in 2000.  Housing units totaled 762 down from 773 in 2000.  329 of the 762 were occupied.  The remaining 433 unoccupied homes (57%) are assumed to be seasonal homes.  It was the same percentage in 2000.   As far as diversity goes, 98% of Greensboro residences claim to be of one race and white.
Summer Speakers:  Invitations were extended to Vermont tax policy makers including the Vermont State Tax Commissioner to speak to the Greensboro community.  Uncharacteristically, we were unable to pin any of these politicians down and get them to commit.  We’ll try again next year.
New People in Important Places:  With the retirement Bridget Collier, Valdine Hall has been elevated to the Greensboro Town Clerk position.  Vicki Strong from Irasburg vstrong@leg.state.vt.us and Sam Young from West Glover syoung@leg.state.vt.us were elected in November to represent our district in the Vermont House of Representatives.  Vincent Illuzzi from Orleans villuzzi@leg.state.vt.us remains our state senator in Montpelier.

Future Tax Committee Topics:
• The new fire station and its tax consequences

• Survey of residential and non-residential property sales and values in Vermont

• School budgets and trends in Greensboro and surrounding towns

• Roads, 41% of our town budget

• The Vermont Constitution and Tax Laws

• How tax laws are made in Vermont

• How tax laws are made in other states

• Forecasting the future of the Greensboro community due to current property taxes