General

City Council - Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee Friday, May 29, 2026, 2:00 PM, Remotely via Zoom Join: https://zoom.us/j/92820128318 Webinar ID: 928 2012 8318 1. Agenda Subject 1.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda Meeting May 29, 2026 - Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee - Friday, May 29, 2026, 2:00 PM, Remotely via Zoom Category 1. Agenda Department Type Action Procedural Recommended Action Motion to adopt agenda. 2. Public Forum Subject 2.1. PUBLIC FORUM - Verbal Comments Meeting May 29, 2026 - Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee - Friday, May 29, 2026, 2:00 PM, Remotely via Zoom Category 2. Public Forum Department Type Action Public Hearing Recommended Action Open public forum. Close public forum. 3. Discussion and Vote on Tax Fairness Resolution Subject 3.1. Draft Resolution re Tax Fairness Charter Change Page 1 of 10  Meeting May 29, 2026 - Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee - Friday, May 29, 2026, 2:00 PM, Remotely via Zoom Category 3. Discussion and Vote on Tax Fairness Resolution Department Council and Board Type Action 4. Continued Discussion on Committee Priorities Subject 4.1. Discussion on Committee Priorities Meeting May 29, 2026 - Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee - Friday, May 29, 2026, 2:00 PM, Remotely via Zoom Category 4. Continued Discussion on Committee Priorities Department Council and Board Type Discussion 5. Scheduling Subject 5.1. Scheduling for future meetings Meeting May 29, 2026 - Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee - Friday, May 29, 2026, 2:00 PM, Remotely via Zoom Category 5. Scheduling Department Council and Board Type Discussion 6. Adjournment Subject 6.1. Motion to adjourn Meeting May 29, 2026 - Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee - Friday, May 29, 2026, 2:00 PM, Remotely via Zoom Category 6. Adjournment Department Council and Board Type Action Procedural Recommended Action Motion to adjourn. Page 2 of 10  Resolution Relating to RESOLUTION________ Sponsor(s): Neubieser Introduced: ____________________ TAX FAIRNESS CHARTER CHANGE Referred to: ____________________ ______________________________ Action: ________________________ Date: __________________________ Signed by Mayor: ________________ CITY OF BURLINGTON In the year Two Thousand Twenty-Six..……………………………………………………………………… Resolved by the City Council of the City of Burlington, as follows: 1 That WHEREAS, affordability is a major threat to the economic vitality, social equity, and quality of life of 2 Burlington due to the escalating costs of housing, transportation, health care, child care, food, and taxes, and 3 salaries and wages fail to keep pace, and the City’s current municipal property tax structure does not reflect 4 ability to pay, and is regressive, thereby contributing to the affordability crisis; and 5 WHEREAS, affordability is a priority of the Mulvaney-Stanak administration, and the Mayor 6 convened a bipartisan Tax Fairness Working Group in 2025 comprised of City staff with expertise in the field, 7 City Councilors, community members, and external policy experts, which recommended advancing two tax 8 fairness strategies: 9 1. Exempting between $30,000 and $50,000 of the assessed value from the taxable value of homestead 10 properties; 11 2. A property transfer tax, the revenue from which would be dedicated to creating and maintaining 12 affordable housing; and 13 WHEREAS, on January 20, 2026, a majority of the Council nonetheless voted against placing a non- 14 binding homestead exemption advisory question on the March Town Meeting ballot; and 15 WHEREAS, instead, on February 17, 2026, the City Council passed a resolution establishing an ad hoc 16 bipartisan Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee comprised of City Councilors and one Mayoral administration 17 appointee having jurisdiction over tax fairness, including proposing any charter changes; and 18 WHEREAS, the Council committee was directed to continue the work of the Mayor’s Tax Fairness 19 Working Group with the hope of bringing a binding charter change to Burlington voters on a special city 20 election scheduled for the November 2026 General Election; and 21 WHEREAS, tax fairness demands that ability to pay serve as a core principle underlying tax system 22 design, and those who sell a residence for a price exceeding $1.0 million demonstrate a higher capacity to 23 contribute financially to city needs; and Page 3 of 10  Page 2 Resolution Relating to TAX FAIRNESS CHARTER CHANGE 24 WHEREAS, a City property transfer tax of 3% of sale price, applied to residences valued at $1.0 25 million or more, would have raised $999,000 in 2025, and a tax of 5% would have raised $1,665,000 in 2025; 26 and 27 WHEREAS, in 2023, the administration of Mayor Miro Weinberger retained consultant Urban3 to, 28 among other goals, evaluate the equity of the City property assessment system, and Urban3 identified 29 systemic, repeated over-valuation and over-taxation of the City’s lower-valued residences and under-valuation 30 and under-taxation of the City’s higher-valued residences and thereby recommended abating $75,000 from the 31 assessed value of every home in the city to address this assessment inequity; and 32 WHEREAS, the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee of the Burlington City Council has proposed a 33 Charter amendment, as reflected in this resolution, and the City Council desires to propose the same to the 34 legal voters of the City of Burlington; 35 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Burlington directs that 36 the following question be placed on the ballot for the November 3, 2026 general election: 37 38 “Shall the Charter of the City of Burlington, Acts of 1948, No. 298, as amended, be 39 further amended to amend Article 31 Sec. 102f and Article 28 Sec. 81 to read as follows: 40 41 81 Tax classification; repeal of inventory tax. 42 (a) Except for the property of utilities subject to the provisions of 30 V.S.A. chapter 3, all personal and real 43 property set out in the grand list which is not used as residential property, farmland, and vacant land zoned 44 “recreation, conservation and open space (RCO)”, shall be classified as nonresidential property and shall be 45 assessed at 120 percent of fair market value; and further provided that inventories and personal property 46 belonging to an owner whose total personal property does not exceed the fair market value of $45,000.00 shall 47 no longer be set out in the grand list of the City as taxable personal estate. Additionally, every owner whose 48 total personal property does exceed the fair market value of $45,000.00 shall be taxed only on the amount of 49 that property that exceeds $45,000.00. The amount of the exemption may be increased by the City Council 50 prior to approval of the next fiscal year’s budget. Properties upon which in-lieu-of-tax payments are made 51 shall be likewise classified and assessed for the purposes of such payments. The tax on nonresidential personal 52 property shall be eliminated effective July 1, 2026, or sooner by resolution of the City Council. 53 (b) For the purposes of this section, "residential property" is hereby defined to include all property used for 54 dwelling purposes including accessory property which is subordinate to or customarily incidental to the main 55 residential use such as garages and outbuildings. Where a property is used for both residential and 56 nonresidential purposes, then it shall be apportioned according to such uses and then classified and assessed as 57 herein provided. Notwithstanding the foregoing, for the sole purpose of calculating the educational grand list 58 and for the assessment of property taxes for education purposes under Act 60, so-called, as the same may be Page 4 of 10  Page 3 Resolution Relating to TAX FAIRNESS CHARTER CHANGE 59 amended from time to time, all nonresidential properties as above defined shall be assessed at one hundred 60 (100%) percent of fair market value. 61 (c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this charter or any other statute, the City Council shall be 62 empowered to establish by ordinance one or more tax subclassifications consisting of different types, classes, 63 or uses of residential property, and shall set tax rates applicable to each such residential property 64 subclassification, subject to approval by a majority of the legal voters of the City voting on the question at an 65 annual or special City meeting duly warned for that purpose. 66 (d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, and for purposes of property taxation for non-education purposes, there 67 shall be an exemption of $50,000 of the grand list value for all properties for which the owner has filed for the 68 tax year in question a declaration of ownership for homestead purposes pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 5410, as the 69 same may be amended or renumbered from time to time, and for which the current assessed value is $350,000 70 or less. An adjustment of tax rates set in Article 31 for municipal assessments and Title VII (Retirement) of 71 this charter shall be made so that the foregoing exemption is revenue neutral. The City Council is authorized 72 to make periodic adjustments to the dollar values set forth in this subsection by resolution pursuant to the 73 budget adoption process established in Sec. 157 of this Charter. 74 102f. Annual assessment and property transfer tax for housing trust fund use authorized. 75 a. The City Council shall annually assess upon the property grand list of the City to assist in meeting the 76 appropriation made for distributions and uses of the Housing Trust Fund as set forth in Article 18-404 of the 77 Code of Ordinances a tax that will, in the judgment of the City Council, be sufficient to assist in meeting the 78 appropriation, but the rate shall not exceed one cent upon the dollar of the property grand list, except when a 79 larger rate shall be authorized by the legal voters of the City. The tax shall not be included within the 80 limitations of the amount of tax for City purposes prescribed in section 99 of this chapter. 81 b. There shall be a tax at the rate of five percent (5%), imposed in a like manner to the tax imposed 82 pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 9602, as the same may be amended or renumbered from time to time, upon the 83 transfer of any residence (single family home or condominium) having a value at or above $1 million. The 84 term “value” in the previous sentence shall have the same meaning as set forth in 32 V.S.A. § 9601, as the 85 same may be amended or renumbered from time to time, and the City Council may increase the $1 million 86 threshold set forth in the same sentence in a like manner as the dollar values set forth in Section 81(d) of this 87 Charter. As used in this subsection, “homestead property” means that as of the next preceding April 1 prior to 88 the transfer, the property was subject to the requirement to file a homestead declaration pursuant to 32 V.S.A. 89 § 5410, as the same may be amended or renumbered from time to time. The proceeds of the tax created by this 90 subsection shall be dedicated to the same fund as the tax assessment described in subsection (a) of this section. 91 Subject to the orders and ordinances of the City Council, the Chief Administrative Officer shall create 92 regulations and forms necessary or convenient to implement this subsection. 93 94 95 96 CN/ER/Resolutions 2026/Tax Fairness Charter Change 97 5/20/26 Page 5 of 10  Resolution Relating to RESOLUTION________ Sponsor(s): Neubieser Introduced: ____________________ TAX FAIRNESS CHARTER CHANGE Referred to: ____________________ ______________________________ Action: ________________________ Date: __________________________ Signed by Mayor: ________________ CITY OF BURLINGTON In the year Two Thousand Twenty-Six..……………………………………………………………………… Resolved by the City Council of the City of Burlington, as follows: 1 That WHEREAS, affordability is a major threat to the economic vitality, social equity, and quality of life of 2 Burlington due to the escalating costs of housing, transportation, health care, child care, food, and taxes, and 3 salaries and wages fail to keep pace, and the City’s current municipal property tax structure does not reflect 4 ability to pay, and is regressive, thereby contributing to the affordability crisis; and 5 WHEREAS, affordability is a priority of the City Council and Mulvaney-Stanak administration, and 6 the Mayor convened a bipartisan Tax Fairness Working Group in 2025 comprised of City staff with expertise 7 in the field, City Councilors, and community members, and external policy experts, which recommended 8 advancing varioustwo tax fairness strategies as warranting additional review, including: 9 1. Exempting between $30,000 and $50,000 of the assessed value from the taxable value of homestead 10 properties; 11 2. A property transfer tax, the revenue from which would be dedicated to creating and maintaining 12 affordable housing; 13 2.3.Establishing varying tax rates for different classifications of property (e.g., second homes, vacant 14 properties, etc.); and 15 WHEREAS, on January 20, 2026, a majority of the Council nonetheless voted against placing a non- 16 binding homestead exemption advisory question on the March Town Meeting ballot; and 17 WHEREAS, instead, on February 17, 2026, the City Council passed a resolution establishing an ad 18 hoca bipartisan Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee comprised of City Councilors and one Mayoral 19 administration appointee having jurisdiction over tax fairness, including proposing any charter changes; and 20 WHEREAS, the Council committee was directed to continue the work of the Mayor’s Tax Fairness 21 Working Group with the hope of bringing aand to recommend any binding charter change to Burlington voters 22 as early ason a special city election scheduled to coincide withfor the November 2026 General Election; and 23 WHEREAS, at the time of passing the February 17, 2026 resolution, the City Council understood it 24 may have until as late as August 2026 to recommend a binding charter change question in November 2026. 25 The City Council subsequently learned the State of Vermont’s election calendar, related ballot printing Page 6 of 10  Page 2 Resolution Relating to TAX FAIRNESS CHARTER CHANGE 26 deadlines, and statutory requirements for presenting binding charter change questions would require the City 27 Council to approve the presentation of a charter change question no later than its regular meeting scheduled 28 for June 1, 2026; and 29 WHEREAS, this accelerated timeline has not permitted the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee or the 30 general public an opportunity to fully review the strategies referenced above and, as such, the membership of 31 the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee held divided opinions on whether the City Council should approve 32 charter change questions to coincide with the November 2026 General Election or the March 2027 Municipal 33 Election. These divided opinions also considered the fact that holding a special election in November 2026 34 will cost the City of Burlington tens of thousands of dollars at a time when the City faces significant budget 35 constraints; and 36 WHEREAS, notwithstanding these concerns, a majority of the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee, 37 including the representative from the Mayor’s Office, voted in favor of proceeding with the binding charter 38 change question outlined below regarding a homestead property tax exemption; and 39 40 WHEREAS, tax fairness demands that ability to pay serve as a core principle underlying tax system 41 design, and those who sell a residence for a price exceeding $1.0 million demonstrate a higher capacity to 42 contribute financially to city needs; and 43 WHEREAS, a City property transfer tax of 3% of sale price, applied to residences valued at $1.0 44 million or more, would have raised $999,000 in 2025, and a tax of 5% would have raised $1,665,000 in 2025; 45 and 46 WHEREAS, in 2023, the administration of Mayor Miro Weinberger retained consultant Urban3 to, 47 among other goals, evaluate the equity of the City property assessment system, and Urban3 identified 48 systemic, repeated over-valuation and over-taxation of the City’s lower-valued residences and under-valuation 49 and under-taxation of the City’s higher-valued residences and thereby recommended abating $75,000 from the 50 assessed value of every home in the city to address this assessment inequity; and 51 WHEREAS, the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee of the Burlington City Council has proposed a 52 Charter amendment, as reflected in this resolution, and the City Council desires to propose the same to the 53 legal voters of the City of Burlington; and 54 WHEREAS, the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee also desires to continue its review, with necessary 55 input from the public, City staff, and policy experts, on varying tax values for different classifications of 56 property and a property transfer tax; and Page 7 of 10  Page 3 Resolution Relating to TAX FAIRNESS CHARTER CHANGE 57 WHEREAS, a City property transfer tax of 3% of sale price, applied to residences valued at $1.0 58 million or more, would have raised $999,000 in 2025, and a tax of 5% would have raised $1,665,000 in 2025, 59 assuming properties would have sold at the same values they did in 2025, notwithstanding the addition of a 60 5% property transfer tax; and 61 WHEREAS, the State of Vermont assesses its own property transfer tax of 0.5% on the first $200,000 62 in residential property value and 1.47% (a 1.25% base rate and 0.22% clean water surcharge) on any value 63 exceeding $200,000; and 64 WHEREAS, City staff are not currently equipped to assess a municipal property transfer tax to the 65 same extent as the State of Vermont or to assess varying tax values for different classifications of property 66 considered by the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee thus far. Accordingly, the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc 67 Committee must consider the capacity of existing City staff to stand up new taxation models; and 68 WHEREAS, the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee must also consider the likelihood of the State 69 Legislature and Governor endorsing a municipal property transfer tax that is more than double that currently 70 assessed by the State, or their supporting varying tax values for different classifications of property at a time 71 when the State Legislature is also actively considering a similar model for the State’s property tax 72 assessments; and 73 74 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Burlington directs that 75 the following question be placed on the ballot for the November 3, 2026 general election: 76 77 “Shall the Charter of the City of Burlington, Acts of 1948, No. 298, as amended, be 78 further amended to amend Article 31 Sec. 102f and Article 28 Sec. 81 to read as follows: 79 80 81 Tax classification; repeal of inventory tax. 81 (a) Except for the property of utilities subject to the provisions of 30 V.S.A. chapter 3, all personal and real 82 property set out in the grand list which is not used as residential property, farmland, and vacant land zoned 83 “recreation, conservation and open space (RCO)”, shall be classified as nonresidential property and shall be 84 assessed at 120 percent of fair market value; and further provided that inventories and personal property 85 belonging to an owner whose total personal property does not exceed the fair market value of $45,000.00 shall 86 no longer be set out in the grand list of the City as taxable personal estate. Additionally, every owner whose 87 total personal property does exceed the fair market value of $45,000.00 shall be taxed only on the amount of 88 that property that exceeds $45,000.00. The amount of the exemption may be increased by the City Council 89 prior to approval of the next fiscal year’s budget. Properties upon which in-lieu-of-tax payments are made Page 8 of 10  Page 4 Resolution Relating to TAX FAIRNESS CHARTER CHANGE 90 shall be likewise classified and assessed for the purposes of such payments. The tax on nonresidential personal 91 property shall be eliminated effective July 1, 2026, or sooner by resolution of the City Council. 92 (b) For the purposes of this section, "residential property" is hereby defined to include all property used for 93 dwelling purposes including accessory property which is subordinate to or customarily incidental to the main 94 residential use such as garages and outbuildings. Where a property is used for both residential and 95 nonresidential purposes, then it shall be apportioned according to such uses and then classified and assessed as 96 herein provided. Notwithstanding the foregoing, for the sole purpose of calculating the educational grand list 97 and for the assessment of property taxes for education purposes under Act 60, so-called, as the same may be 98 amended from time to time, all nonresidential properties as above defined shall be assessed at one hundred 99 (100%) percent of fair market value. 100 (c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this charter or any other statute, the City Council shall be 101 empowered to establish by ordinance one or more tax subclassifications consisting of different types, classes, 102 or uses of residential property, and shall set tax rates applicable to each such residential property 103 subclassification, subject to approval by a majority of the legal voters of the City voting on the question at an 104 annual or special City meeting duly warned for that purpose. 105 (cd) Notwithstanding the foregoing, and for purposes of property taxation for non-education purposes, the City 106 Council shall be empowered to establish by ordinance, subject to approval by a majority of the legal voters of 107 the City voting on the questions at an annual or special City meeting duly warned for that purpose, re shall be 108 an exemption of up to $750,000 of the grand list value for all properties for which the owner has filed for the 109 tax year in question a declaration of ownership for homestead purposes pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 5410, as the 110 same may be amended or renumbered from time to time, and said ordinance shall establish a maximumfor 111 which the current total assessed value is of $3500,000 or less to which the exemption will apply. The 112 ordinance may also establish additional eligibility criteria for the foregoing exemption, including but not 113 limited to income qualifications. An adjustment of tax rates set in Article 31 for municipal assessments and 114 Title VII (Retirement) of this charter shall be made so that the foregoing exemption is revenue neutral. The 115 City Council is authorized to make periodic adjustments to the dollar values set forth in this subsection by 116 resolution pursuant to the budget adoption process established in Sec. 157 of this Charter. 117 102f. Annual assessment and property transfer tax for housing trust fund use authorized. 118 a. The City Council shall annually assess upon the property grand list of the City to assist in meeting the 119 appropriation made for distributions and uses of the Housing Trust Fund as set forth in Article 18-404 of the 120 Code of Ordinances a tax that will, in the judgment of the City Council, be sufficient to assist in meeting the 121 appropriation, but the rate shall not exceed one cent upon the dollar of the property grand list, except when a 122 larger rate shall be authorized by the legal voters of the City. The tax shall not be included within the 123 limitations of the amount of tax for City purposes prescribed in section 99 of this chapter. 124 b. There shall be a tax at the rate of five percent (5%), imposed in a like manner to the tax imposed 125 pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 9602, as the same may be amended or renumbered from time to time, upon the 126 transfer of any residence (single family home or condominium) having a value at or above $1 million. The 127 term “value” in the previous sentence shall have the same meaning as set forth in 32 V.S.A. § 9601, as the 128 same may be amended or renumbered from time to time, and the City Council may increase the $1 million Page 9 of 10  Page 5 Resolution Relating to TAX FAIRNESS CHARTER CHANGE 129 threshold set forth in the same sentence in a like manner as the dollar values set forth in Section 81(d) of this 130 Charter. As used in this subsection, “homestead property” means that as of the next preceding April 1 prior to 131 the transfer, the property was subject to the requirement to file a homestead declaration pursuant to 32 V.S.A. 132 § 5410, as the same may be amended or renumbered from time to time. The proceeds of the tax created by this 133 subsection shall be dedicated to the same fund as the tax assessment described in subsection (a) of this section. 134 Subject to the orders and ordinances of the City Council, the Chief Administrative Officer shall create 135 regulations and forms necessary or convenient to implement this subsection. 136 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee is directed to continue its 137 review of a municipal property transfer tax and establishing varying tax values for different classifications of 138 property, with the goal of recommending any related charter change question for the March 2027 municipal 139 election, and the Tax Fairness Ad Hoc Committee shall consider that: (1) the public must have been provided 140 a full and fair opportunity to comment on any Committee recommendations; (2) any recommendations should 141 be supported by relevant policy experts; (3) City stuff must be equipped with the ability to administer any 142 recommendations; and (4) recommendations should be best situated for success before the State Legislature 143 and Governor. 144 145 146 CN/ER/Resolutions 2026/Tax Fairness Charter Change 147 5/20/26 Page 10 of 10