GREENSBORO – A special town meeting will be held at the Highland Center for the Arts on Tuesday, June 30, at 7 p.m. The meeting will decide if Greensboro should vote on all public questions by Australian ballot instead of floor votes at town meeting. Albeit well intentioned, making this[Read More…]
David Kelley
Education tax funding fails
To the editor: Due to Vermont’s byzantine Education Funding Formula, there is some confusion surrounding Greensboro’s Homestead Education Property Tax. The plain facts are as follows: In 2024 Greensboro’s Homestead Education Property Tax Rate increased by 9.7%. In 2025 it increased by 8.7%. This year, the smoke hasn’t yet cleared[Read More…]
For whom the bill tolls: property taxes are killing Greensboro
GREENSBORO – Town select boards pore over municipal budgets line by line for weeks. The town budget process is difficult and time-consuming, but it isn’t complicated. There are revenues and there are expenses. School budgets are different. Vermont’s Education Funding Formula has become so complex that most school board members[Read More…]
As we become unmoored
GREENSBORO – The United States has had more than its share of moral failure. From the Trail of Tears to the My Lai massacre there is plenty for us to be ashamed of. But with our democratic institutions, our Constitutional rights and the power of dissent, for 250 years, we[Read More…]
On sale now: American moral leadership
GREENSBORO – Almost 250 years ago Jefferson wrote that we “are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights” and that “government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.” America has not always been a “shining City on a Hill,” but from Valley Forge to the Edmund[Read More…]
First sips from a bitter cup
GREENSBORO – This week the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense (or War?) gathered 800 generals and admirals for a peculiar sort of political rally. The President told stone-faced generals and admirals they would be crucial in his fight against the “enemy from within” and that[Read More…]
Greensboro Celebrates Freedom and Unity, July 5
by David Kelley GREENSBORO – On Saturday, July 5, the Town of Greensboro will be celebrating its Funky Fourth once again. Tourists, friends and neighbors (and especially the best neighbors any state could have, Canadians) come to the party. Greensboro will be celebrating the Declaration of Independence and those fundamental[Read More…]
Vermont Supergroup Coming to Highland Center, June 28
GREENSBORO – Leroy Preston, founder of the popular country band, Asleep at the Wheel, Taryn Noelle who was voted Western Swing Female Vocalist of the Year in 2019, and Paul Asbell, recognized as one of Vermont’s greatest guitar players, have joined with Lucas Adler on drums, Michael Zsoldas on sax,[Read More…]
Education Reform: Trust Vermont Values
GREENSBORO – The road to education reform in Vermont has been long and winding, and we are at another crossroads. Driven by increasingly unaffordable property tax bills, House bill H. 454 attempts to use district consolidation as a cost-saving measure along with a funding formula change meant to contain spending.[Read More…]
A Response to Dillon’s Opinion
GREENSBORO – I read Sheila Dillon’s op ed in last week’s Gazette and thought it deserved a response as well as corrections. Here are some basic facts. Contrary to Ms. Dillon’s claim, the proposed conveyance would not transfer title to the Town Green. The Town retains ownership of the Green.[Read More…]
Beginning Australian Ballot Procedure
To the editor: The select board has been under pressure to bring the town hall redevelopment proposal to a vote and we have repeatedly told people we planned to be able to do that by town meeting. We have also been under pressure by some to have the vote be[Read More…]
Congratulations to Harple
To the editor: I want to congratulate my opponent, Leanne Harple, on her successful primary campaign to represent Orleans-4 in the Vermont Legislature. I am sure we can both agree it was a vigorous campaign. Just as importantly, I want to thank the many people who gave me their money,[Read More…]
