Posted on 03/02/2004 12:22:18 PM PST by Pikamax
Killington Residents Endorse Plan To Join New Hampshire Town Wants To Secede Over Property Taxes
POSTED: 2:30 pm EST March 2, 2004
KILLINGTON, Vt. -- Voting with a thunderous "aye," Killington residents endorsed a plan Tuesday for the ski resort town to secede from Vermont.
The overwhelming voice vote inside the elementary school opened the next chapter in what could be a long and costly push to join New Hampshire, a state 25 miles to the east. Town officials estimated between 200-300 people attended the meeting, and that about two-thirds of them supported the idea in the voice vote.
"Other towns have been sitting back and waiting for Killington to break ground," said Jim Blackman, 46. "It is Killington's obligation to break that ground."
Blackman's comments were echoed by many of the dozen-odd residents who spoke at the town meeting.
Their comments mirrored Killington's long-standing frustration over how much the town of roughly 1,000 pays the state in taxes and how little residents say they get in return to pay for the town's school and municipal services.
That frustration drove town officials to launch the secession movement last fall. The town already has spent about $20,000 studying the feasibility and potential advantages of joining New Hampshire, the state where it was originally chartered in 1761.
Secession activists say the legality and economic rationale behind the plan are sound.
Vermont lawmakers have given the plan a lukewarm reception. They have said it is largely symbolic and probably will be voted down by the Legislature.
"The state is treating us like a cash cow," said David Lewis, the town manager.
Not everyone at the meeting was in favor of the plan, however.
"I was born and raised a Vermonter, and I hope to always be," said resident Julie Thomas, 38.
At the heart of the displeasure with Vermont is the state's new system of financing education, adopted in 1997 under order of the Supreme Court, which dramatically increased property taxes in communities, like Killington, deemed to be property wealthy.
Having won the endorsement of their constituents, town officials will now begin drafting a petition to present to New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson and the state's Legislature.
After the meeting, Lewis said town officials want New Hampshire's approval before approaching Vermont's lawmakers -- who have the final say in whether the town can become part of the Granite State.
New Hampshire officials had declined to comment before Tuesday's vote. "We'll wait to see what the results of the vote are and we'll go from there," Wendell Packard, spokesman for New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson, said last week.
Lincoln essentially bestowed official recognition of the Virginia state goverment to an unrepresentative rump convention meeting at Wheeling in the panhandle (the only part of the original south that is north of the mason dixon line). That rump convention, which consisted of the overwhelmingly unionist panhandle counties and a few others to their immediate south, then decided to act as the Virginia legislature (even though they had no authority in their own right) and called for a "statewide" referendum to create a new state. That state was to consist of them and another 20 or so counties to their south that had absolutely nothing to do with them and in fact favored Virginia's earlier secession (i.e. the Wheeling convention simply claimed them as their own territory). The referendum was held on one of those Saddam Hussein style 99% to 1% votes where Wheeling thugs controlled access to the ballot boxes, sent to Lincoln's government, and "accepted" as the "consent" of Virginia to divide itself.
You assume too much sir. If you had read the article before posting, you might have noticed this:
At the heart of the displeasure with Vermont is the state's new system of financing education, adopted in 1997 under order of the Supreme Court, which dramatically increased property taxes in communities, like Killington, deemed to be property wealthy.
I have friends in Vermont, not surprising since I am a native Vermonter, who have been forced to sell off their farm piecemeal to generate enough cash to pay their property taxes. This farm has been in their family since 1850. To think that they actually voted for this is simply dumb.
Take a look here
Lots of info on relocating to New Hampshire.
Considering that Lincoln maintained that Virginia never the union (which he also maintained predated the states), the formation of the state violates the constitutional requirment of the legislature to approve the division of the state. Essentially, the rump legislature was recognized by Lincoln/Congress as the legislature of Virginia AND West Virginia. It can't be both.
Bad move, dude. Lots of New Yorkers vote in both Miami and New York City. You wouldn't be getting away from the City if you moved down to south Florida.
Try Washington state instead. The "rain shadow" (i.e., not-very-rainy) country on the eastern shore of the Olympic Peninsula on the Strait of Juan de Fuca is some of the most beautiful real estate on earth, and Washington doesn't have a state income tax. They're not likely to get one, either. Lots of people down south in Vancouver, Washington, just across the river from Portland, know this, too. So do lots of Portlanders and other Oregonians who've shown the wits to escape across the river to Vancouver.
Texas doesn't have a state income tax, either, though the "bidness" lobby is trying to cook one up to make the People eat the tax bill that business is now paying through their property taxes. Could get wormy real soon.
Tennessee doesn't have a state income tax, either, though The Interests and the 'Rats have been conspiring to pass one there against the outcry of the People. Also possibly wormy future, but at least it isn't Florida.
What an interesting thought......healing an old social "division" (after all, if we can talk about "reparations"....) by going to the Supreme Court for injunctive relief.
Would that require a suit by the State of Virginia? The original jurisdiction would seem to be the Supreme Court. Seems like Virginia, according to what I've seen posted on FR over the last couple of years, would have very strong historical and legal ammunition for reclaiming its wayward counties.
What a thought......back to the ephemeral 49-star flag! At least until Puerto Rico makes its mind up........the two senators would have to go (awwwwww!!!!), but Virginia would pick up WV's congressmen and quite a bit of real estate, making Virginia a heavyweight Eastern state again.
Of course, to make everything fair and square, we'd have to redistrict..... =8^)
Anyone besides me hear rats squealing?
That would move Virginia up from the second-tier states that have 8-10 representatives each, like Maryland, Massachusetts, Indiana, and Tennessee.
The really big states like New York, Texas, and California have 30-50 representatives each. New York is down to 29 seats after the last census. They overcome this embarrassment by flying down to Miami and electing several of Florida's 25 representatives.
First off, the National Guard in the 1860's were called State Militias and in the south the State Militias sided with the CSA. Second, the only reason US Army troops were fired on is the fact that they were invading and occupying territory within the boundaries of states other than their own and in hostility to the residents of those states. If you want to praise US soldiers today I'll be the first to stand up and join you. But if those soldiers are ordered to attack my state, town, and family and if I see them charging at my town with bayonets trying to kill me as they were to southern civilians in the 1860's, it is a God-given right to shoot back.
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