MINUTES
Meeting of September 16, 1997
The Legislative Oversight Committee on Restructuring Education met at 9:45 a.m. in the Legislative Lounge of the State House.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Sens. Cheryl P. Rivers, Chair; Nancy I. Chard; James H. Greenwood; Helen S. Riehle; Peter E. Shumlin; Reps. Paul A. Cillo; John S. Freidin; David C. Hathaway; Martha P. Heath; Karen M. Lafayette.
STAFF PRESENT: Bill Russell, Emily Tartter and Rachel Levin of the Legislative Council; Steve Klein and Catherine Benham of the Joint Fiscal Office.
Senator Rivers called the meeting to order at 9:45 a.m.
1. APPROVAL OF 9/9/97 MINUTES
On a motion made by Rep. Heath, the committee approved the minutes of the September 9, 1997 meeting, as submitted.
2. UPDATE FROM ADMINISTRATION
Secretary Kathy Hoyt said she would turn her report over to Sean Campbell and that the Administration was following up on a work plan, issues of cash management, cash flow, the Cherry Sheet concept and that the Department of Finance and Management would have a report soon.
Sean Campbell, Deputy Commissioner of Taxes and Special Assistant to Secretary Hoyt on Act 60, addressed issues relating to public information materials being developed. He distributed a 9/15/97 memo to the committee addressing the issue of voluntary and non-voluntary withholding of school taxes under Act 60; a list of the Act 60 Leadership Group members and a sheet listing Vermont Department of Taxes Permanent Full-time positions Required to Implement Act 60 (provided to the committee in the afternoon.)
He said the Leadership Group was meeting on Wednesday to review responses to the 31 RFP’s sent out for the public information campaign and that in the near future a determination and announcement would be made. He said the Administration is keeping track of where and when speakers are being scheduled to talk about Act 60 and invited the committee to do the same with their schedules.
The committee suggested the Administration put together teams of people who are knowledgeable about Act 60 to fulfill community requests for public meetings to provide information and answer questions and that there needs to be more coordination between all parties scheduling meetings.
Sen. Shumlin made a motion that the chair work with the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Taxes to assemble teams of people who will attend public meetings to clarify and answer questions.
Discussion focused on the difference between presentation and participation in meetings, the need to go to areas of the state where there has been few or no public meetings, that the team approach would be a resource available to give information out, that it should be combined with a plan to make sure certain groups are spoken to and that the team approach should provide clarity and be proactive as well as reactive.
The motion passed unanimously.
Sean Campbell reviewed the memo on withholding of school taxes with the committee. Discussion addressed many issues including committee members noting that the issue was discussed in Senate Finance Committee deliberations, that the committee can take one of two actions: it can decide that it recommend that the legislature act or that it can ask the Administration to make a proposal, whether under a voluntary system people would opt for it, and that whatever the system it should help taxpayers avoid getting in a situation where they are behind in their payments.
Sen. Chard made a motion that the Administration develop recommendations to the legislature on the subject of mandatory vs. voluntary withholding of school taxes under Act 60.
The committee clarified that this would be expected in January.
The motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Marc Hull, Department of Education, updated the committee on the Department of Education’s progress and presented the committee with the following information: a 9/15/97 memo outlining his update to the committee; a 9/13/97 letter to school board chair, superintendents and principals, special education administrators and technical center directors and adult education directors providing an update on Act 60 implementation; a 9/11/97 memo to superintendents, business managers and school board chairs addressing FY 1999 budget preparation and a 9/16/97 draft of a printout from a database which is in the process o f being developed to enhance the understanding of actions which need to be carried out under Act 60.
Committee discussion focused on many issue areas including that the draft of the handbook will be reviewed with a committee member and then the committee as a whole that the Commissioner will require that all funds expended for schools must be recorded, the Block Grant and how best to explain the calculation of the above block spending, positions in the Department of Education the Commissioner is currently filling for special education, finance, statistical analysis.
Bill Johnson, Director of Property Valuation and Review was asked to update the committee on materials Property Valuation and Review is providing to listers and other local officials. He explained to the committee the status of letters which had and had not been mailed. The committee asked for information on the status of unfilled positions in PVR and the Department of Taxes. Bill Johnson told the committee no hires have been made yet and indicated that the priorities were to fill the computer and district advisor positions.
The committee asked Sean Campbell how many State government hires have been made and whether there were still barriers to hiring, noting that they had been told that personnel barriers has been transcended due to the urgency of the need to hire staff. Sean Campbell said he would get a response to the question.
Bill Johnson continued his testimony saying that there were two hurdles to overcome in implementing Act 60 from his Department: educating people on Act 60 and getting towns to consistently report the same information.
The committee then had a discussion with Bill Johnson on Current Use. The committee asked Bill Johnson if he could come back later and report to the committee on Current Use enrollment and projected enrollment as well as to provide the committee with any newsletters or letters which had been sent out from the Department of Taxes and Property Valuation and Review.
Bill Johnson returned later with final copies of the September issue of Valuation Views, a 9/12/97 memo from Commissioner Ed Haase to Town treasurers, clerks and listers in regard to upcoming Act 60 events as well as a 9/16/97 memo from the Commissioner to Officers of Vermont cities and towns.
3. REVIEW OF PROVISION OF ACT 60 PERTAINING TO TAXATION OF MOBILE
HOMES
The chair announced that do to a death in the family of one of the witnesses, this issue would be taken up at a future committee meeting.
4. TOWN TAX COLLECTION PROCEDURES AND LOCAL OFFICIALS ADVISORY
BOARD
The chair distributed a memo from staff to the committee which listed the Local Officials Advisory Committee members as of 9/15/97 as well as two attachments which were copies of the
initial letter of invitation to serve on the committee and a letter of thanks to those local officials who
have chosen to serve.
The chair then asked Rep. Freidin to distribute and review a draft charge for the Local Officials Advisory Committee. The committee reviewed and made their suggestions for the charge which will be updated by staff and brought to the next meeting.
Committee members noted a small number of overlaps with issues the Committee on Appraisals may be taking up and suggested the legislative representatives on that committee be contacted and kept informed.
It was agreed that the chair would send a letter to John Cushing, the chair of the Local Officials Advisory Committee, including the list of committee members and the charge of the committee stating that the Oversight Committee on Restructuring Education is available to them when they are ready to bring information to the committee and outlining some initial dates and deadlines.
5. REVIEW OF LETTER OF INTENT
Bill Russell and Emily Tartter of the Legislative Council and Steve Klein of the Joint Fiscal Office distributed and reviewed the 9/16/97 Statement of Legislative Intent for the Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1997 signed by Senator Cheryl Rivers, Chair of the Committee of Conference and Representative Paul Cillo, Vice Chair of the Committee of Conference.
The committee also discussed Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) issues and technical corrections which will be addressed by staff at a future meeting.
6. RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR LEGISLATORS FROM JOINT FISCAL OFFICE
AND LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
Steve Klein and Catherine Benham of the Joint Fiscal Office and Bill Russell of the Legislative Council addressed the committee’s questions about information forthcoming for legislators from the Joint Fiscal Office. The committee said that an actual work sheet was needed for calculations of individual’s school taxes.
It was agreed that Sen. Rivers, Rep. Freidin, Steve Klein and Catherine Benham would meet to discuss draft documents which would be prepared for legislators and presented to the committee at the next meeting.
Bill Russell let the committee know the Question and Answer draft document had been mailed to committee members and that a new draft would be ready for the next committee meeting.
Sean Campbell and Bill Johnson then brought in the materials the committee had requested earlier and reviewed them.
Committee requests for information, actions which will be taken:
1. Committee members will keep track of where they have been asked to speak and
and where they have spoken and will relay the information to a person designated
by the committee so that the Administration has one contact person from whom to
obtain the information
2. Administration will provide committee with final letters it sends to local officials
3. Department of Taxes will provide the committee with projections about the number of
people who would opt for mandatory withholding of school taxes
4. Commissioner of Education will provide committee with copies of overheads for
presentations
5. Commissioner of Education will provide committee with copy of primer and
handbook
6. the chair will facilitate a meeting with committee members and staff to discuss how
best to explain Block Grant above block spending
7. AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING
The agenda for the next meeting is attached.
The meeting adjourned at 4:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rachel Levin