# Ah Sure It'll Be Grand ### *(Act 181 Vermont Working Lands Squeeze)* --- **[Chorus]** Ah sure it'll be grand Ah sure it'll be grand --- **[Verse 1]** Property taxes jumped forty-one percent in five years flat While we're bustin' our backs just to keep the lights on, that's a fact Dairy farmer milkin' cows before the roosters ever crow But the milk check's stuck in neutral while the costs put on a show Maple man boilin' sap when the buckets overflow Bulk wholesale price barely budged, real money runnin' low Logger out in the woodlot with the chainsaw screamin' loud Stumpage barely coverin' fuel, and the banker's gettin' proud *Ah sure it'll be grand…* --- **[Verse 2]** Act 181 comin' down with Tier 3 on your woodlot Sayin' this land's for the wildlife — not the family that bought it Can't tap more trees, can't fix the barn or the sugar shack They'd rather let the deer and the black bear take it back Dairy herd shrinkin' fast, can't afford to feed the calves Maple price flat as a pancake while the tax bill laughs Loggers haulin' less 'cause the regs won't give an inch Rural Vermont gettin' squeezed right down to the pinch *Ah sure it'll be grand…* --- **[Verse 3]** The Road Rule hits ya hard — road rule will drive up your cost Another Act 250 nightmare that will make your best plans lost Can't get the milk truck in or the log truck out when the mud runs deep Montpelier makin' costs explode while our income goes to sleep Forty-one percent tax hike and the milk price barely stirs Bulk maple check stays frozen while every other bill occurs Logger margins cut to bone by fuel and rules and fees We're payin' more and gettin' less — brought right to our knees *Ah sure it'll be grand…* --- **[Verse 4]** No state pension waitin' when the last harvest's done No NGO 401k, no safety net, only The equity they built — in the sugarbush, the field, the woodlot — That's the only retirement a working family planned Act 181, the Road Rule, Tier 3 creepin' in Don't just kill the income — they're stealin' what has always been Generations of sweat soaked into every stone and seam Montpelier robbin' the deed while they're sellin' us their dream *Ah sure it'll be grand…* --- **[Verse 5]** They say it's for the planet, the bears, and the green dream But it's robbin' our future — the only life we've ever seen Multi-generation farms and woodlots losin' ground While the suits up in Montpelier sit warm and never hear a sound We love these hills — the mud, the snow, the cold gray stone But they're makin' it impossible for the working man to own Taxes up, income flat, regs chokin' every breath Ah sure it'll be grand… till there's nothin' left *Ah sure it'll be grand…* --- **[Final Chorus — slower, bitter, last line spoken]** Ah sure it'll be grand Ah sure it'll be grand They'll tax us to the bone while our milk, our maple, and our logs stay damned Ah sure… it'll be… *grand.*
