Some Vermonters want to 'Live Free or Die'

Yet, idyllic views can be deceptive, says Ivan Beattie, a horse breeder and Manchester selectman for 20 years. "Manchester may be a wealthy town, but a town is made up of people. Towns don't pay taxes, people do," he says, as he feeds oats to his horses.

A seventh-generation Manchester resident, he says the farm he has tended for more than 25 years is his life and being a Vermonter his identity. Still, he worries that some day, if the economy remains weak and property taxes keep rising, he'll go out of business. He says others in the community are worse off (even with lower-income rebates).

Back on Manchester's main street, Rep. Judy Livingston (R) of Manchester was preparing to host a dinner party at her house for Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas. She says she has been fighting against unequal property taxes for years, but takes the side of pragmatism. New Hampshire, she says, is simply different. The Granite State has a denser population and laws that encourage industry. Who would plow winter roads? How far into Vermont would the New Hampshire state police drive? Would town residents need new driver's licenses?

Mr. Lewis shrugs off such details. The tax difference is hard to ignore: According to one economic study, Killington's taxes would be halved if the town seceded. Now the town pays $20 million to the state and only gets $2 million for schools and municipal aid.

Lewis insists he doesn't want to make his town a low-tax fortress. "We're not moving anywhere," he points out. "Our neighbors are still our neighbors." And maybe, he posits, secession would actually foster interstate cooperation.

Maps are not likely to be redrawn any time soon. Killington - and others - would need approval from both state legislatures, Vermont's Governor Douglas, and the US Congress. In the state capital of Montpelier, the movement draws laughs. Ms. Livingston says a favorite joke in the capital is, "What are they going to do? Build a bridge from Killington to New Hampshire?"

Meanwhile, Governor Douglas "is hopeful ... that [town officials will] direct their attention to developing legislative solutions rather than focusing on public-relations gimmickry," says Jason Gibbs, a spokesman for the governor. They shouldn't forget, he adds, that the Killington ski mountain belongs to the state.

Even if the movement is merely a gesture, discontent with the tax system remains, and secession - however unlikely - at least infuses the discussion with new life, says Livingston.

And while it does, it may pay homage to the past, echoing, in its grandest sense, the Revolutionary War. "We are the colonies, revolting against the oppressive British," says Mr. Glavin.

The tea bags he found scattered on the floor after Dorset's selectmen meeting only proved his point. A coincidence? He seriously doubts it.

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