Planner explains Vermont CHIP program as tax-increment option for housing infrastructure

At the Oct. 6 meeting, staff briefed the Planning Commission on Vermont's Community Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP), describing it as a new tool local governments can use to finance infrastructure for housing development. "The state actually just in the past year or so, came out with the CHIP program," staff said, explaining the program functions similarly to tax-increment financing: municipalities select a developer partner, the developer builds housing, the town helps fund infrastructure up front, and the increased property tax revenue from completed development is used to repay those infrastructure costs.