Updated February 21, 2020.
In defending his ownership of three homes during Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) listed each and the justification for buying it.
One is in Washington, D.C., where he works much of the year. A second is in Burlington, where he served nearly a decade as mayor.
“And like thousands of other Vermonters, I do have a summer camp,” Sanders said, referring to the $575,000 lakefront home in North Hero he purchased in 2016. “Forgive me for that.”
So is Sanders right? Do thousands of Vermonters own summer camps?
First, one must consider that the word “camp” can be interpreted a few ways in the Green Mountain State. Some consider it a descriptor for a primitive structure, such as a deer camp for hunting season. Others — and Sanders appears to be among this contingent — use it to refer to a seasonal home. Indeed, property listings do describe Sanders’ North Hero house as seasonal, despite its price tag.
Using the latter definition, Sanders is likely not wrong that “thousands” of Vermonters own seasonal second homes, said Douglas Farnham, the policy director for the Vermont Tax Department.
Data show that Vermont has 17,000 seasonal homes that the owners don’t use as a primary residence. Of those, nearly 8,000 were owned by people or companies who provided the tax department a Vermont mailing address, Farnham said.
He warned, though, that analyzing the data in terms of Vermont mailing addresses could lead to “inappropriate conclusions.” Some addresses, for instance, could be duplicates, as in the case of a company that owns multiple seasonal cabins that it rents out. And homeowners, including someone like Sanders, could use a mailing address outside Vermont — yet still be a Vermont resident.
Still, even considering for those factors, Farnham said, “getting down to less than 2,000 would be extremely difficult — and unlikely.”
Translation: Sanders wasn’t wrong that thousands of Vermonters own summer camps.
“I think his statement was broad but fair,” Farnham said. “But exactly how many thousands is not something we’d be able to determine.”
Related Stories
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
I’m certainly not a Bernie acolyte and recognize the policies he proposes would be a disaster for any modern day society, as has been amply evidenced over the years, however the headline here is misleading. A summer camp and a second home are two completely different things, and even Bernie knows it and that is why he used the misleading term ‘camp’.
His “$575,000 lakefront home in North Hero” is no summer camp, despite the fact that a man of his wealth may only use it in the summer. Bernie is not a Vermonter, he is a carpetbagger from New York, who has used the easily manipulated liberals who have transplanted to Vermont to further his own political career. Bernie, just like Howard Dean who followed him, recognized the easy path to public office Vermont’s liberal flatlander’s have provided him.
Fortunately, while he has taken over and practically killed the Democratic party, we won’t have to worry about him occupying the Oval Office, because Americans are smarter than that.
Talk about hard-hitting journalism! Am I reading the Freeps?! Oh, and the comments criticizing Bernie? As always, very insightful and not whiny at all!
“nobody needs two homes when children are starving”
I live in Addison County near scores of summer camps on the lake. Over the last fifteen years they’ve doubled and tripled in value, now being worth more than their owner’s full time residences. Any attempt to make this sound nefarious is merely an excuse by those making the charge to make the camp’s owners look bad, and is a deceitful use of the facts. These camps are not some “privilege of the millionaire class,” but the sort of things that many regular Vermonters own. To make it seem otherwise is both disingenuous and dirty pool, saying more about the person making the charge than anyone who happens to own one.
Technically correct!
Now, Bernie, how many people working at one of these corporations you hate have a second home?
How’d you pull off this feat working for the people as a public servant?
“‘Like thousands of other Vermonters, I do have a summer camp,” Sanders said.”
“Like” is improper grammar. The proper construction is “as do.” (What he is trying to say is, “I am like other Vermonters.”)
But that is a false claim. He is not a Vermonter. He is a New Yorker.
(As the old expression goes, “just because a cat has her kittens in the oven does not mean they are biscuits.”)
A half million dollar camp doesn’t exactly sound like a camp. Not a very well phrased explanation.
@ 4mervter :The house is not on a private island, if it helps.
4MERVTER, so now that he’s earned some money, he should change his politics to stick it to the poor? He supports policies that help poor people, he hasn’t taken a vow of poverty.
But, how many “camps” are a private island on Lake Champlain? This is a privilege of the millionaire class, not the typical “camp” on Lake Iroquois or something similar.
Not a good look, Comrade Bernie.