This week marks a year since FYIVT began publishing daily reporting on Vermont’s political, social, and economic challenges. In that time, readers have followed coverage that examined the state’s rising costs, shifting demographics, education funding battles, and questions of law and order. Taken together, these stories reveal a Vermont grappling with deep structural tensions—between progressive ideals and economic realities, between community identity and policy experiments, and between aspirations for equity and the hard math of affordability.

Rising Cost of Living

One of the clearest throughlines has been the cost of living. FYIVT reporting has documented how Vermont’s energy mandates, restrictive zoning laws, and high tax burdens have combined to drive up prices across housing, heating, and transportation. A 2023 Joint Fiscal Office report showed Vermont’s cost of living rising faster than the national average, particularly in housing and energy.

Marginal cost sensitivity—the way small increases in essentials like heating oil disproportionately impact households on the edge—was a recurring theme. For many working families, even minor tax hikes or fuel surcharges became breaking points. Roughly 31% of Vermonters are now considered poor or low-income, and nearly 40% of Americans in similar positions cannot cover a $400 emergency expense. Vermont’s layering of energy mandates and high property taxes risks shrinking its tax base as younger families and retirees look elsewhere.

Climate Policy and Affordability

Closely tied to affordability has been the state’s ambitious climate policy. Coverage highlighted the Global Warming Solutions Act and its Clean Heat Standard, designed to push emissions reductions but raising red flags for affordability. FYIVT reported on how electric vehicle subsidies primarily benefited wealthier residents while leaving middle- and low-income Vermonters footing the bill. Mandates requiring dealers to sell EVs in proportion to traditional vehicles introduced further strains.

Legislative attempts to balance climate leadership with economic fairness often fell short. As one article concluded, Vermont risks “driving out the very people it hopes to help” if it cannot reconcile environmental ambitions with everyday affordability.

Education and Taxes

Education funding emerged as another flashpoint. Vermont spends among the highest amounts per pupil in the nation, but this comes with heavy property tax burdens. Declining enrollment compounds the pressure, forcing homeowners to shoulder rising costs while school districts debate consolidation. Coverage of Acts 127, 73, and 168 showed how state policy intended to address equity often translated into higher taxes, sparking criticism of a disconnect between rhetoric and fiscal reality.

Outgoing legislators and community leaders repeatedly voiced concern that the supermajority’s decisions on education spending, though well-intentioned, added to financial stress for families already stretched thin. Vermont’s challenge remains balancing equitable education with sustainable taxation.

Crime, Disorder, and Law Enforcement

Public safety was another consistent theme. FYIVT’s coverage explored how criminal justice reforms, sanctuary policies, and legalization efforts contributed to what some critics called a “revolving-door” system for repeat offenders. Articles drew parallels between Vermont and other states where clearance rates declined and public disorder rose despite official claims that crime had not increased.

Residents reported increased concerns over theft, vandalism, and quality-of-life crimes. The broader pattern suggested that policy shifts in prosecution and enforcement reshaped not only the statistics but also the public’s sense of safety.

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A Year in Perspective

Taken together, FYIVT’s first year of reporting paints a picture of a state at a crossroads. Vermont is admired nationally for its ideals but increasingly questioned by its own citizens over whether those ideals are economically sustainable. If the first year’s stories revealed anything, it is that Vermont’s future will depend on reconciling ambition with affordability.

The second year of coverage will coincide with the run-up to the midterms, when these issues will likely dominate the political debate. Rising costs, property taxes, climate mandates, and crime are not abstract policy points—they are lived realities. FYIVT’s mission will remain what it has been since day one: to shine light on the facts, strip away spin, and give Vermonters the clearest possible picture of where the state stands, and where it is headed.

Looking Ahead: Year Two

As FYIVT marks its first anniversary, we’re not just looking back—we’re planning ahead. The coming year will bring new projects designed to expand the reach and depth of our reporting. Among the initiatives already in motion are a Vermont-focused search engine to make public records more accessible and podcasts that take the conversations we’ve started in print into a new medium. These efforts require time, infrastructure, and resources.

As much as we love producing daily articles, FYIVT operates under the same economic rules as every other venture. This is a private business, not a nonprofit, because we don’t believe taxpayers should be forced to subsidize journalism. Either it generates income and pays for itself, or it goes away like any other business. With over 2,000 hours in our first year poured into research, interviews, writing, and publishing, FYIVT competes with any full- or part-time job. Like any other job, the work of researching, interviewing, writing, and publishing takes real time and resources. FYIVT can only continue at this pace if it supports itself financially.

We’d like to extend a special thanks to our sponsors, supporters, advertisers, readers, and commenters who have stepped up to keep this work going. Your contributions, encouragement, and engagement have kept FYIVT moving forward, and we’re deeply grateful. Every like, follow, and share helps us reach more Vermonters. Looking to the year ahead, we’re committed to producing even more in-depth, thought-provoking articles that cut through the noise and get to the truth of Vermont’s challenges.

That’s why reader support matters. If you’ve valued this first year of reporting, consider helping us make the second year even stronger. You can become a monthly supporter or make a one-time sponsorship payment by clicking any of the links within this article. Every contribution, large or small, directly fuels the work of digging up facts, asking hard questions, and delivering clear-eyed reporting that Vermont needs.

If you have found value in our work and want to support independent journalism in Vermont, become a supporter for just $5/month today!

Dave Soulia | FYIVT

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