As in most states, Vermont supports its public K-12 education through property taxes, which in Vermont are voted in annual town meetings. Vermont's lower state contribution translates into a higher burden on towns. So property taxes in Vermont are higher than in most states.
Property taxes vary wildly from town to town in Vermont, depending on each town's property tax base.
Individuals and businesses in those towns pay much lower property taxes even if their expenditure per pupil is much higher than the state average. The state legislature has been aware of this disparity for many years but has been unable to muster the political will to change it. The House would pass a liberal property-tax reform bill, which would then die in the Senate. Democrats now control both houses, and the governor is also a Democrat, but a solution still seems as elusive as ever. Every Vermont student should have approximately equal access to all the money the state spends on education, the court said.