I live in my barn so I can afford to stay in Vermont

Dear Editor, I have one message for anyone in the Legislature talking about taxing second-home owners more. I am on the edge of having to sell up and move south because property taxes are almost as much as my mortgage. I bought my home on 18 acres in 2007: a very simple ranch house, a run-down garage apartment and a small horse barn. After a breakup, I needed to buy my partner out, but I couldn’t afford to keep living in the house. So I took what was left in my 401(k), hired some cowboys to make the barn livable, and moved into it. I rented out my actual home and the little cottage so I could afford to stay in Vermont — barely. At times, I was literally surviving on potatoes from the garden and eggs from my hens. I tried long-term rentals, but a couple of very bad tenant experiences left me with losses of $15,000 to $20,000 each time.

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