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pretentiousignoramus t1_iy34353 wrote

Reply to comment by walterbernardjr in Why can't vermont tax Airnbn by Old_Ad_1301

On paper, Vermont has 20 percent vacancy rate which is driven by 2nd homes and a lot get used as Air BnBs, sure. It seems plenty are okay with collecting taxes from out of staters who pay to not be around and keep Vt small. Up until 2010 the state population was shrinking. The state is not business friendly. Super Troopers was a film set in Vermont and filmed in New York because the tax credits were better. That's sad but happens everywhere. Still. Point made. Not business friendly. The biggest industries are healthcare and education. Bring em in, usher them out but nothing to keep them there in the meantime except seasonal or agricultural work.

The issue that's popped up in the past 5 years is investor purchasing of homes IMO. They price out individual buyers with cash offers. Banning short-term rentals not only would benefit actual BnBs which are dying in the state. It would also discourage investors and give working folks a chance.

There are jobs in Vermont that our of staters want but can't take because there is literally nowhere to live.

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walterbernardjr t1_iy35ds2 wrote

This, exactly. Thanks for adding. All our family in Vermont is at retirement age or older, and nearly all their kids have left the state. Why? Jobs. This says it all. average annual employment growth over the past five years of -1.0%. The top three sectors by total employment are Real Estate and Rental and Leasing, Healthcare and Social Assistance, Manufacturing.

I think the state should look hard at what kind of incentives it can create to attract more businesses, especially in high growth sectors like tech, and healthcare.

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06EXTN t1_iy3dt25 wrote

let's not forget property taxes as a factor. It was literally the one reason I couldn't buy a home in VT. My friend lives in Duxbury and pays almost 5k a year for taxes. He has a well for water, his own septic, and lives on a public dirt road. And the local police are the State Police. so what are his taxes going for exactly when he gets almost zero services from the state and town? Schools mostly.

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No-Ganache7168 t1_iy6w11z wrote

Probably education. More than half of my taxes go to education and our local schools are a mess. I also live on a dirt road but drive on paved roads to get to work so I benefit from local taxes even though they have risen at a faster rate than my salary.

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pretentiousignoramus t1_iy38n7x wrote

There is enough room for growth in Vermont where families like mine would want to come in and revitalize small walkable towns. I would love to buy a rundown property in a decent small town work at the school My wife is a nurse. We're still trying to make it happen.

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random_vermonter t1_iy3jxam wrote

I’m not sure how more transplants are going to help when there’s a nasty housing crisis. I feel like people are ignoring this.

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pretentiousignoramus t1_iy62jmx wrote

You have a worker shortage as well though. Nurses, teachers, residential construction.

Vermont is paradoxically stuck. Not enough people for available jobs. Not enough housing for the current population.

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walterbernardjr t1_iy39080 wrote

Yeah, it’s possible for sure. It’s certainly easier if you’re closer to a large hospital (Burlington, Dartmouth)

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random_vermonter t1_iy3jq1s wrote

I’m having a bit of difficulty wrapping my head around the idea of VT being “unfriendly” to business. How friendly do you think the state should be to businesses of all types?

Just a honest question.

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pretentiousignoramus t1_iy3k5iu wrote

Typically that comes down to tax incentives. "Pro-business" certainly can go too far or you have companies taking advantage of a system. The biggest way I see cities getting ripped off are with ProSport stadiums. Football teams can get cities to spend a ton of money to pay for these stadiums and the cities typically look at the benefits of this sales tax that they will reap as well as the other benefits to local businesses who will also benefit from having a large population of people in their area. As far as Vermont's concerned if I have a private business I'm going to pay significantly more in taxes to have my business there rather than in New Hampshire or New York which means that I take my business the income that that business makes and the jobs that it would create as well as the tax revenue that you would get from the income tax from those jobs. I could see Vermont taking a more progressive attitude towards small business owners and giving them better tax breaks especially if they're paying x amount over a livable wage or whatever kind of targets that the state would want to set.

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random_vermonter t1_iy3kdjv wrote

Fair enough. There has to be balance because as you said, big businesses love to run amok when there is lax regulation.

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pretentiousignoramus t1_iy3py2i wrote

Yeah I'm not all about letting companies get away with murder; loosening regulatory restrictions regarding clean water, waste deposits etc. But if you're bringing in a business that might means employing more people with $50K + jobs and you can ease tax burdens to court some of those types of companies you'll have better paying jobs.

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