Douglas Clavelle Debate in Ludlow

(from the Rutland Herald, Oct 8, 2004)

By ROSS SNEYD The Associated Press

LUDLOW — Property tax bills in this ski town jumped after enactment of the state’s latest education funding plan and it became a popular topic for discussion at a debate Thursday between the two leading gubernatorial candidates.

Gov. Jim Douglas and Demo-cratic challenger Peter Clavelle also weighed in on civil unions and whether the state should legalize full gay marriage.Although they’ve talked about education funding in passing at other forums, the League of Women Voters debate at town hall offered them their best opportunity yet to discuss the issue.

It was especially poignant in Ludlow. Under Act 68 of 2003, residential property taxes went up by 43 percnet while those paid by businesses and second-home owners climbed 45 percent.Clavelle said the income tax should be tapped to pay for more of the cost of education.“I have sympathy with the taxpayers when it comes to Act 68,” the new funding system, Clavelle said.

Property taxes on nonresidential and commercial property in Burlington, where he’s mayor, increased 21 percent.“Act 68 ... resulted in the largest tax increase in the history of the city of Burlington and Jim Douglas raised that tax, Peter Clavelle didn’t,” he said. “I will place the income tax on the table.”

“So I guess Peter will raise your income taxes. That’s what I heard,” Douglas said.He said he had chosen to shift some of the burden from the property tax to another statewide tax. “I did put another tax on the table last year, Peter, and that was the sales tax,” he said. It rose by 20 percent to 6 cents on the dollar and the revenue it produced is being funneled into the education fund.

The governor defended Act 68, which he and his administration championed. “Act 68 was beneficial in the vast majority of the communities in our state,” Douglas said. “Obviously, 17 percent did not (benefit) and Ludlow is among that 17 percent. I don’t believe we’ve finished the job with Act 68.”He said he was committed to reforming the way properties are appraised, which annually has forced higher total state property tax bills because of the formula the state uses. “We’re going to work with you to do that,” he told the Ludlow audience.

The two men were asked whether they would support a desire expressed by some gay activists that civil unions should be amended to become marriage, which neighboring Massachusetts has instituted.

Clavelle avoided a direct answer to the question, but noted that he lost re-election as Burlington mayor after supporting a proposal in 1993 offering domestic partnership benefits to city employees. “It’s about time we ended discrimination based on one’s sexual orientation,” Clavelle said.

Douglas said he would not support revisiting the civil union debate, which was so divisive in 2000. “I wouldn’t make any changes to our statute,” he said.

Both men said they opposed a proposal in Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Clavelle and Douglas also differed on whether the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant’s license should be extended when it expires in 2012. Clavelle described it as “an old, tired plant. It’s time to plan now for putting it to bed,” and finding new jobs for those who now work there.Douglas said no license extension application has been filed. “I don’t have any position at this point nor does my administration on the extension of the license,” he said.