Dear Editor, I oppose proposals to impose a substantially higher property tax rate on second homes in Vermont. I was born and raised in Shaftsbury, graduated from Mount Anthony Union High School and Saint Michael’s College, and was married in Manchester. Vermont is not simply a place where my family vacations; it is home. After college, I moved to Massachusetts to find a stable, well-paying job with benefits because my skills and training did not align with many of the opportunities then available in Vermont. Today, I own a second home in Waterbury and regularly return to Shaftsbury to visit my widowed mother. My family consistently supports locally owned businesses in Waterbury, the Shires and communities across the state, from bookstores and restaurants to other small businesses. We make a deliberate choice to spend locally rather than at national chains. Census data shows that only about half of Vermont’s residents were born in the state. By any reasonable measure, I am a Vermonter, and maple runs through my veins. My goal is to move back to Vermont full time when it becomes financially viable for my family. Our careers and family circumstances simply do not make that possible today. When we purchased our Waterbury home, we paid the higher property transfer tax required for a second home, significantly more than the standard rate. We could have tried to qualify for the lower rate by designating the property as a long-term rental through a short arrangement with a friend or relative, as others reportedly do. Instead, we followed the spirit of the law and paid our fair share. A proposal that could effectively double the base property tax rate for some nonhomestead residences would materially affect our family. Vermont should create pathways for people with deep roots here to return, invest and participate in their communities, not adopt a one-size-fits-all policy that may push them away. We are fortunate, and we recognize that. But we are not wealthy. We worked hard and saved for years to own a home in Vermont again. We are not property developers, short-term-rental operators or seasonal visitors who appear only for foliage and ski season. We are a Vermont family maintaining our connection to the state we love and working toward a permanent return. READ MORE I understand the urgency of Vermont’s housing and affordability crisis. Too many people are struggling to buy or remain in their homes, and policymakers should act. But a broad tax increase on second homes will not produce the intended result. Families like mine could be forced to sell, while buyers with greater wealth and fewer ties to Vermont take our place. That would do little to expand attainable housing or strengthen year-round communities. If lawmakers move forward with a higher tax on second homes, I urge them to include a carefully designed exemption or credit for owners who were born in Vermont or lived here for at least 20 years, particularly those who do not use the property as a short-term rental. A targeted policy can distinguish commercial or luxury ownership from people seeking to preserve longstanding ties to their home state. Without that distinction, Vermont risks driving away the very people it should be welcoming back, without meaningfully addressing the housing crisis. Bryan Burke Westford, Mass., and Waterbury, Vt. Read the story on VTDigger here: Don’t tax Vermont expats out of coming home. ...read more read less