Tax Burdened: Residents Bear the Brunt of Burlington's First Property Reassessment in 16 Years

Read the article in Seven Days.

Here is an excerpt:

The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity's free tenant hotline has gotten more calls about landlords hiking rents during the pandemic. Jess Hyman, associate director of its housing advocacy programs, worries that because renters' wages haven't risen at the same rate as their housing cost, "there's no way to keep up" with other expenses.

"If someone's prioritizing paying their rent, and half of their income or more is going toward rent, that doesn't leave enough for food or health care or childcare or car payments," she said. "That has a ripple effect on the rest of their lives."