1. Vermonters for Economic Health Present A View of Vermont’s Economic Health Vermonters for Economic Health PO Box 153 Essex Jct, VT 05453 www.vteh.org

5. Why Should YOU Be Concerned? Source: State of Vermont Comprehensive Annual Financial Report FY 2002 – 2007; Consumer Price Index

6. VT’s Tax Burden Ranking Combined State and Local Tax Burden - 2007 Source: The Tax Foundation; Bureau of Economic Analysis; Commerce Department 8 12.2 % Connecticut 9 11.9 % Nebraska 10 11.6 % New Jersey 7 12.3 % Wisconsin 6 12.4 % Hawaii 5 12.4 % Ohio 4 12.7 % Rhode Island 3 13.8 % New York 2 14.0 % Maine 1 14.1 % Vermont 11.0 % Total Rank State and Local Tax Burden State 48 8.5 % Tennessee 44 9.0 % S.Dakota 43 9.3 % Texas 42 9.5 % Wyoming 41 9.7 % Montana 50 6.6 % Alaska 49 8.0 % New Hampshire 47 8.8 % Delaware 46 8.8 % Alabama 45 9.0 % Oklahoma Rank State and Local Tax Burden State

7. VT’s Tax Burden Ranking 10-year history Source: The Tax Foundation; Bureau of Economic Analysis; Commerce Department 7 11.6 % 2000 7 11.6 % 1999 5 11.9 % 1998 7 11.5 % 2001 7 11.3 % 2002 6 11.4 % 2003 3 12.8 % 2004 2 13.9 % 2005 1 13.9 % 2006 1 14.1 % 2007 Rank State and Local Tax Burden 13 34.4 % 2000 12 34.0 % 1999 9 34.4 % 1998 14 33.2 % 2001 14 30.7 % 2002 16 29.8 % 2003 5 31.1 % 2004 3 33.9 % 2005 3 34.8 % 2006 5 35.1 % 2007 Rank Fed, State and Local Tax Burden

8. Every Revenue Source Is Being Squeezed Source: VT Department of Taxes

10. How Does Vermont Spend its Revenues? Source: Vermont Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. Fiscal year ending 6/30/06. 75% of Revenues Go Towards Education and Human Services 39% 36% 7.5% 6% 5%

11. How Has Various VT Government Spending Grown Recently? Source: Vermont Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. Fiscal year ending 6/30/06. Education, Police & Corrections and Human Services are growing almost 3 times higher than inflation, while Business and Job related expenditures shrink.

12. Student Enrollment Down - Employment and Costs Up Source: Summary of the Annual Statistical Report of Schools (SASR) FY 1997 - 2006 Student Growth = -9.1%; Teacher and Staff Growth = +20.8% Students Teachers And Staff 106,341 96,636 15,783 19,069 94,000 96,000 98,000 100,000 102,000 104,000 106,000 108,000 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 15,000 16,000 17,000 18,000 19,000 20,000

14. Source: Public Assets Institute (In thousands) Private Sector Job Growth from 1990 - 2007 Since the 2001 recession there has been no Private Sector job growth in VT

15. What Kinds of Jobs are Being Created? Government, Education and other Non-profit jobs do not add to VT’s Tax Base

16. VT’s Job Problems Real or Imagined No job gains reported ... only “plans” for future jobs. Source: WCAX / BFP ‘07 Review on VT Business and BFP 7/19/08 Vt Jobless Rates Fall Slightly 75 ClearSource Vermont Pure - Randolph 24 Hillcrest Foods - Fairfax 204 Metro Group - Rutland 47 Neo-EMS (Nexus Customer Electronics) - Brandon 35 Sirloin Saloon - S.Burlington 35 Wausau Mill - Northumberland 180 IBM – (reduction in force in June 2008) 100 Vermont Tubbs - Brandon 55 KBA Printing - Williston Jobs Lost From 2007 – 2008 … 23 Vt Teddy Bear Co. - Shelburne 30 TD Banknorth Inc. – Various Locations 180 Specialty Filaments – Middlebury 20 Neo EMS – Brandon 60 Omya Industries - Proctor 35 Vermont Plywood LLC - Hancock 60 Northern Power Sys. - Waitsfield & Barre 112 Standard Register – Middlebury 1520 Total Job Losses 135 Qimonda – Williston 115 Dirigo Mill – Gilman

18. Vermont Jobs 2001 - 2008 Source: Public Access Institute, Montpelier, VT. The bottom line All of the net new jobs during this period were in the public sector. There are fewer private sector jobs now than there were in 2001. 4,600 54,200 49,600 Public Sector Jobs ** * Includes both for-profit and non-profit employers ** Includes federal, state, and local government employers (100) 252,600 252,700 Private Sector Jobs * 4,500 306,800 302,300 Total jobs Change April-08 April-01

19. VT Has Many More Part-Time Workers Than The U.S. or NE Average Source: Economic Policy Institute analysis of Current Employment Statistics survey data. Many of these jobs are tourism-related with sub-standard pay and little or no benefits 38.2 20.1 28.8 Maine 36.2 20.5 28.1 Vermont 36.1 18.9 27.1 Massachusetts 35.4 19.1 27.0 Rhode Island 35.0 19.1 26.6 Connecticut 34.0 16.6 24.8 New Hampshire 29.6 16.3 22.4 United States Female Male All

22. VT’s 2007 Gross Domestic Product Source: Vermont Economic Newsletter July 288, Page 3 How often do we hear that Vermont relies heavily on Agriculture? 1.5 Agriculture 3.0 Utilities 2.1 Transportation 1.7 Private Education 16.5 Other small sectors, including Real Estate % Industry Segment 4.5 Construction 4.4 Hotel / Restaurant 4.1 Information Management 8.0 Professional / Technical / Administrative 5.9 Finance 4.8 Wholesale 8.3 Retail 10.0 Health Care 11.5 Manufacturing 13.7 Government

23. VT’s Population Growth Less Than Half of the National Average

24. Who Is Going to Support the Ever Expanding “Safety Net” When You Are Retired? Source: U.S. Census Bureau

27. SOLUTIONS