As we  begin our emergence from the Great Recession and see budget deficits forecast through FY13, the Roundtable’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force has been taking a fresh look at these and related issues.  The Task Force, which began meeting earlier this summer and will continue  through November, is chaired by Ken Perine, President of National Bank of Middlebury, and a member of the Roundtable’s Board of Directors. Recommendations will be submitted to the Board for consideration at its November planning retreat.

The Task Force will not only update the Roundtable’s position on tax policy, but will exercise its educational mission and conduct an awareness campaign throughout the state around the structural fiscal issues plaguing Vermont.  Also, it will serve as a resource to the Blue Ribbon Tax Commission that was created by the legislature this past session, and which is chaired by Roundtable Member Emeritus, Bill Schubart. The commission has been charged to investigate structural issues in its first year and tax expenditures issues in the second year, with deliverables by January of 2010 and 2011, respectively.

During the period 1991-2001 the Roundtable published five different reports on tax and fiscal policy. These reports are available on our website at http://vtroundtable.org/article/view/19096/1/3358 .