Overrides and small business

In the fall, the Select Board voted to apply a tax classification or split tax rate to the town's tax levy. Under this arrangement, businesses are taxed at a higher rate than residences. This option is allowed by the tax code because residential property values tend to grow faster than business property values over time. Frank Gracie gave an excellent presentation before the board on why this is so. I agree with the decision of the board that the split tax rate was warranted. The burden of the tax levy had been steadily shifted away from business and on to residents over the years. The split tax restored the balance.
At the time, several members of the Board expressed their reluctance to increase taxes on small businesses. However now that overrides are on the agenda, the impact of increased taxes on small business seems to have been forgotten. The Board is ready and willing to pile more taxes on the small business community and seems to have forgotten their earlier concerns about the impact. With a split tax rate in place, override increases fall more heavily on these business taxpayers. That is another of the reasons that we need to keep override increases to the lowest possible amount.