Town and Gown

A study by Richard Heaps and Arthur Woolf of Northern Economic Consulting in Westford, released in March of 2003, quantified that common knowledge: the college's direct and indirect employment impact accounted for 14.2 percent of the county's total employment; the wage impact added up to 19.3 percent; and putting together a $55.1 million direct wage impact and $21.6 million in multiplier effect wages, the $76.7 million total impact meant the college "accounts for one dollar of every five dollars in wages paid by employers in the county."

In the past year, the college has gone through a major transition in which John McCardell, a 13-year president whose successes led to him being tapped at one point as Vermonter of the Year, stepped down to return to teaching and studying history.

With everything on an even keel, the Trustees chose (to no one's surprise), McCardell's second-in-command for the past 10 years, Ronald Liebowitz.

The fund-raising that has fueled a highly anticyclical local construction boom (a $40 million library just opened, downhill from the $50 million science center and uphill from the $20 million arts center, the hockey arena, and the natatorium) scarcely skipped a beat: an alum backed the school with a $50 million challenge gift as a vote of confidence for Liebowitz it was one of New England's largest such donations ever - and another alum immediately chipped in $10 million to start matching it, and other alumni joined to start matching that money by raising $5 million in 24 hours.

But although the school provides the community with cultural resources, work-study students, hundreds of student community service volunteers, and a pool of people with the time to help run local organizations and the money to fund them, the amount of otherwise taxable property the college has taken off the books remains a sore point.

Middlebury's tax rate of about $3.25 per $100 of valuation is among the state's highest - despite having a thriving industrial area - with the residential properties soaring in value because so many financially qualified people want to live near the college.

The college has responded by working out a 10-year voluntary contribution agreement with the town that since it started in 1994 had given the town $1.2 million. When it was renewed this year, the town's representatives wanted to get the benefit of the college's investment expertise, so the terms were more complicated: after $200,000 in payments in the winter of 2005, of which $50,000 would represents 5 percent of $1 million of the college's endowment, the baseline figure of $200,000 each year would apply to two calculations: 75 percent would go up or down depending on the rate of change in the municipal tax rate. which $50,000 would increase or decrease depending on the investment performance of the endowment.

The terms were set for an initial 10 years, with automatic renewal unless either party discontinued the arrangement. The college's estimate was that over 20 years, this might add more than $6.5 million to the town's revenues. In addition, all college property now on the tax rolls will continue there; the college, the largest taxpayer in Middlebury, now pays more than $530,000 a year on those properties.

The college construction boom is slowing down, now that their expansion of the student body to about 2,300 is complete, with dorm renovations the main focus. But other projects do come up, like this summer completely reworking the art museum roof to removed skylights (dripping from condensation) and rebuilding the base lodge at the Middlebury College Snow Bowl in Hancock (which will cost about $2.25 million).

Beyond the college's undergraduate presence, summer brings the Bread Loaf School of English and Bread Loaf Writers Conference, at an outlying campus in Ripton; and the Language Schools, with the Arabic School very popular lately, and a new Portuguese School gaining in importance as Brazil's world presence grows.

Events take place during they year that go beyond undergraduate concerns, like the Digital Bridges conferences (some Midd alums headed important dot-com companies), and this winter a gathering meant to explore the advantage of Vermont as a home base for financial services businesses.

But Middlebury College isn't the only educational institution in the county. In addition to the Addison Central, Northeast and Northwest school districts all major employers - the county supports several private schools.

These include a reopened Catholic elementary school associated with St Mary's in Middlebury, now five years old; the K-12 Champlain Valley Christian School in Vergennes; the K-12 Red Cedar School in Bristol, which just celebrated its 15th year; and the new North Branch School in Ripton.

The Foundation for Excellent Schools in Cornwall, which since 1991 had helped more than 270 schools in 25 states strengthen programs for more than 140,000 students, is now working with the Kellogg Foundation and several other major donors to help an eventual 100 schools around the country partner with 20 colleges and universities in The Century Program. More than $1.5 million has been donated for the purpose.

Copyright Boutin-McQuiston, Inc. Aug 01, 2004
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