BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A tax increase is one of the ideas before the Burlington City Council to close a $10 million to $12 million budget gap. The mayor’s proposal for a tax hike and deep cuts in spending comes as the city confronts a budget shortfall for a third straight year.
In fiscal year 2020, Burlington’s budget was around $75 million. In fiscal year 2027, it’s about $107 million, a 43% increase in spending in just seven years.
Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak claims that one-time funds, including state grants and federal COVID relief, are primarily responsible for the rapid growth of the budget. And now that money has dried up, she says the only options are cutting programs and staff, raising taxes, or both.
“We can’t keep doing all these pieces of work without new revenue streams,” said Mulvaney-Stanak, P-Burlington.
The mayor’s administration has faced a significant budget gap each of her three years in office. She says each time, it’s harder to fill.
“We basically have looked at everything very closely at this point, at sometimes two or three times over, to make sure we’re spending just what we need to. We keep looking at programs we’re offering to make sure they’re being completely utilized,” Mulvaney-Stanak said.
In the last 10 fiscal years, 98 full-time positions have been added, and the mayor says many of those were paid for through grant funding or COVID money. Now, a combination of inflation and those funds running out leaves the city with a budget gap.
“Sometimes those positions would continue on, but without a new revenue source, it would always go back to our general fund, which is raised by local taxpayer dollars,” Mulvaney-Stanak said.
She points the finger at former Mayor Miro Weinberger, under whose watch those jobs were added.
“To suggest that these decisions made years ago are what’s driving the current challenges just doesn’t seem quite right to me, you know. Again, I think the statute of limitations for blaming me and the previous council for the current problems is past due,” Weinberger said.
Art Woolf, a former UVM professor of economics, also notes that Burlington isn’t immune to the national trends of 25% inflation over the last five years.
“That means you’re going to need 20% to 25% more in taxes just to keep up what you’re doing, and obviously more because that’s just inflation. And every year costs go up by more than inflation,” Woolf said.
The mayor is also exploring other cost-saving options, including a voluntary furlough program for employees and potentially selling or repurposing city land to grow the tax base. She’s also asking all department heads to cut 5% to 10% of their spending.
“There’s really no way to do a 5% or 10% reduction without considering some level of staff reductions, but we’re really trying to make that the last resort,” Mulvaney-Stanak said.
The mayor also wants voters to approve a 5-cent increase in the public safety tax. The City Council will discuss on Monday night whether to put that increase before the voters on Town Meeting Day.
The council will also vote on whether to put an advisory question on tax fairness on the ballot.
