How a Vermont Town Almost Broke Up With America Over a Tax Bill
When Breaking Up With Your State Means Breaking Up With Your Country
Imagine getting so angry about your property taxes that you decide to leave the entire United States. That's exactly what happened in 1977 when the small Vermont ski town of Killington voted to secede from America and join New Hampshire instead.
It sounds like the setup to a comedy sketch, but for nearly four decades, this wasn't a joke — it was a legitimate constitutional crisis that nobody quite knew how to solve.
The Tax Bill That Broke the Camel's Back
The trouble started when Vermont passed Act 60, a law designed to redistribute education funding across the state. For Killington's roughly 1,000 residents, this meant their property taxes would skyrocket to help fund schools in poorer districts — even though many of Killington's homes were seasonal vacation properties whose owners didn't even use Vermont's school system.
The math was brutal. Killington contributed about $10 million annually to Vermont's education fund but only received $1 million back for their own schools. Residents watched their tax bills double, then triple, while their town received virtually nothing in return.
But instead of just complaining, Killington's town meeting did something unprecedented: they voted 25-9 to explore seceding from Vermont entirely and petitioning to join New Hampshire, where property taxes were significantly lower.
Finding the Constitutional Loophole Nobody Expected
What made this more than just an angry protest was that Killington had stumbled onto a real constitutional pathway for their plan. Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution states that new states can be formed from existing states — but only with consent from both the state legislature and Congress.
Technically, if New Hampshire agreed to accept Killington and Vermont agreed to let them go, Congress could legally approve the transfer. It had happened before: West Virginia was created this way during the Civil War when it split from Virginia.
Killington hired lawyers, commissioned studies, and began the formal process of petitioning both state governments. They weren't just making noise — they were following the actual legal procedures for changing state boundaries.
When Your Neighbors Want to Move Next Door
New Hampshire, surprisingly, was interested. The state stood to gain valuable ski resort revenue and property tax income without taking on any significant infrastructure costs. Several New Hampshire towns near the Vermont border passed resolutions supporting Killington's bid to join them.
Vermont, predictably, was less enthusiastic about losing one of its major tourist destinations and tax contributors. The state legislature refused to even consider the secession petition, effectively killing the legal pathway.
But Killington didn't give up. For years, they continued to file petitions, lobby legislators, and argue their case in court. Town meetings became strategy sessions for the secession movement, complete with maps showing how the new border would work and economic projections for life as New Hampshire residents.
The Bureaucratic Nightmare That Followed
The secession attempt created a maze of legal and practical questions that nobody had considered. What would happen to Killington's ZIP code? Would residents need to change their driver's licenses mid-secession? How do you transfer a ski mountain from one state to another?
Federal agencies weren't sure how to handle mail delivery to a town that might not exist in its current form next year. The IRS had to figure out which state would collect income taxes from Killington residents. Even GPS systems would need updates if the town successfully jumped state lines.
Local businesses found themselves caught in the middle. The Killington Resort, the town's largest employer, had to navigate contracts and regulations that might become invalid if the secession succeeded. Some residents supported the move while others worried about the chaos it would create.
Why It Almost Worked
What made Killington's secession attempt genuinely dangerous to Vermont was that it wasn't just one angry town — it represented a broader rebellion against the state's tax policies. Other Vermont communities began exploring similar moves, and some even voted to support Killington's secession as a test case for their own potential departures.
If Killington had succeeded, it could have triggered an exodus of Vermont's wealthiest towns to New Hampshire, devastating the state's tax base and potentially making Vermont financially unviable.
The threat was serious enough that Vermont eventually modified Act 60 and provided some tax relief to communities like Killington, though not enough to fully satisfy the secessionists.
The Town That's Still Trying to Leave
As of 2024, Killington hasn't officially given up on secession. Town meetings still occasionally feature discussions about joining New Hampshire, and the legal framework for the move remains theoretically valid — if Vermont ever changes its mind about letting them go.
The whole saga reveals just how fragile state boundaries really are. We think of state lines as permanent features, like mountains or rivers, but they're actually just agreements between governments. And sometimes, those agreements can be renegotiated by a few dozen angry taxpayers at a town meeting.
Killington proved that in America, even the most basic assumptions about geography and governance can be challenged by citizens who read the fine print and aren't afraid to use it.