[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6309474,"mediaKeyId","2412376-f8c90b4f14c53e09d64af7d6e24ad4b1","parentId",2412376,"title","Vineyard owner urges change to current-use law after land-use change tax assessed on leased acreage purchase","audioSeconds",1273,"startMs",2176000,"endMs",3449000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2412376-f8c90b4f14c53e09d64af7d6e24ad4b1&start=2176&end=3449","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2412376-f8c90b4f14c53e09d64af7d6e24ad4b1/thumbnail_2176000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6309474/Vermont/Vineyard-owner-urges-change-to-current-use-law-after-land-use-change-tax-assessed-on-leased-acreage-purchase","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6309474-efe202598367f978d76b2f4798cf0711/orig.mp4?Expires=1770512911&Signature=PiT5cWhSLHq1p42Wm9sk0ca0IarQao1pQSpyz83y8jTn-fhFGMfgK2Sfsh3ngwBc1ZVAR~9HeZ6F3u8B63PvFAdHNgSo33MiJyh0AD8bBri5yX6oiYt~OiN15FxQN-K1e~H11pvbUPcho3VxpZD60AMW4WoJ6yhxioQtaY~armPBgQPrKtKD6E7QHPCj2bvEjtQ6oFMe3~UO9wDHZy6sNuyUq~wEYN4mmw4sYBm7vn7T6p0Lexu~RTThLXyPBgusjyMGn6RAjlj2lzDZlQTPCrmKTUzVXr4YHOIFGuiIH41GcMbRNTgIpcm91BL3fL0EE~H4nt3hFLqqiYwM3ghWfw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-02-27T03:36:05Z","article","John McCann, co-owner of North Branch Vineyards, told the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry on Aug. 12 that he was assessed a land-use-change tax (LUCT) after purchasing 13.7 acres he had long leased for grape production, and he urged statutory change to avoid similar outcomes for small farms.

McCann said his timeline began in February 2015, when North Branch leased 13.7 acres of a 48-acre parcel to plant a vineyard. He said the parcel remained in the current-use program while leased and that he farmed the property continuously. When the landowner subdivided and recorded plans and permits to sell the 13.7-acre parcel, the Vermont Department of Taxes notified the owner that subdivision triggered development under the LUCT statute and later informed McCann that the 13.7 acres had been withdrawn from current use on the date of transfer and that he owed a LUCT equal to 10% of fair market value, which McCann said amounted to $14,794. He said penalties and fees have increased the amount while his appeal is pending.

McCann cited the statute that the Department of Taxes relied on: Title 32, Taxation and Finance, chapter 124, 32 V.S.A. §3752 paragraph 5(b), which treats subdivision into parcels under certain conditions as “development” for LUCT purposes unless the subdivision is solely a result of transfers among specified relatives. McCann said his parcel never left agricultural production, that he met the farmer qualification threshold (producing at least $2,000 from the land), and that the statutory threshold produces perverse results for small farms seeking to buy leased acreage. “The tax department is penalizing me as a small farmer simply for managing to gather sufficient resources to buy instead of lease my farmland,” McCann said.

Policy options discussed: McCann urged the committee to consider removing paragraph 5(b) of the statute or lowering the 25‑acre threshold to a smaller acreage such as 10 or even 2 acres so that transfers that preserve agricultural use are not automatically treated as development. Members referenced other proposals: Representative Burr has introduced a bill to change the income threshold from 50% to 25% for certain current-use qualifications; McCann said changes of that sort are related to but distinct from his suggested fix to the subdivision rule.

Appeal and consequences: McCann said he submitted an appeal to the Department of Taxes and that the appeal has been pending for more than a year; he said the department declined to reenroll the parcel in current use while the appeal proceeded and that he is paying full municipal property tax rates in the meantime. He said his attorney received a notice that the appeal process was coming to an end and that penalties continued to accrue while the appeal was pending; McCann said the penalties exceed the original LUCT amount.

Committee process and next steps: Committee members asked clarifying questions about the size of the original parcel, whether the vineyard was producing grapes and wine, whether buildings existed on the parcel (McCann said there are no buildings on the 13.7 acres and grapes are delivered to the winery), and whether the land had ever stopped being farmed (McCann said it did not). The committee did not take formal action; staff indicated the bill H.134 and current-use issues will be addressed further in committee and that staff would hear from legal counsel about recent changes to land-use law.

Ending: McCann asked the committee to consider statutory edits to protect small farms that buy leased acreage from being assessed the LUCT; he said he also hopes a legislative change would allow negotiation with the tax department for relief in cases already under appeal.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Agriculture – 2025-02-26 – 9:30AM","oneSentenceSummary","John McCann, co-owner of North Branch Vineyards, told the House Committee that a subdivision and subsequent sale of 13.7 leased acres triggered Vermont's land-use-change tax under 32 VSA §3752(5), producing a $14,794 bill and accumulating penalties while he appeals.","taxTitle","Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",36721,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6309477,"Serve Learn Earn asks lawmakers to increase base funding to expand paid youth training statewide",221,808000,1029000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2412376-f8c90b4f14c53e09d64af7d6e24ad4b1&start=808&end=1029","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2412376-f8c90b4f14c53e09d64af7d6e24ad4b1/thumbnail_808000.jpg","/articles/6309477/Vermont/Serve-Learn-Earn-asks-lawmakers-to-increase-base-funding-to-expand-paid-youth-training-statewide","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6309477-1802cf36d20ae38935dce5578efe3cc7/orig.mp4?Expires=1770512911&Signature=OVgsbSqP0sEyl7fX-8He0tsBzqwocw8~jIS2HO87edI3KsWFv3RofwR1BUmwQAnk9C2CmO-OLVTm3AOnuN1dOuloJJHVqxpsqS7esiZpwjZCQXfo~g4-9khfRx8-z4rJq1RQMBnQwutQKYQ2q5jujAKFyuebO5gPaOLoZgmbX-Uh5XDaWCpsa7XkZlOpmveBCCRHY1UDPXNe5EJUYXCP5VFOfZ-NnnWLl24OJri7NOpZgs6O5EkBh2VvgXGUKzK-WMdP4ex~pVsPgT7EtuFhfIkqJDnb6kRiecSoKbPmN85BuMUyJP2ubEWg9VT0b6HFLl-dFoptcQZWehHFqSkC0g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Serve Learn Earn Director Kate Lachman told the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry on Aug. 12 that the statewide network of youth service and training programs is requesting an increase in state base funding to $2,500,000 to sustain and expand paid workforce programs across Vermont.

Lachman said the organization has grown since 2020 into a network that partners with Forests, Parks and Recreation, AmeriCorps programs and local providers such as Northwood Stewardship Center to deliver paid training and service opportunities for Vermonters ages 14 and older. “All of our programs are paid, so there's no financial hurdle that folks need to cross to be able to get that training,” Lachman said.

The request follows a mix of one-time and base funding in the current biennium: Lachman said Gov. Phil Scott included $500,000 in the base budget for the program and that the legislature provided a $2,000,000 one-time appropriation this past year. The Serve Learn Earn coalition asked the committee to convert and expand ongoing base support to $2.5 million, which Lachman said would leverage roughly $8,000,000 in additional public and private funds annually to operate about $10,500,000 in programming statewide.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed the presenters on whether a funding cut would threaten programs targeted at rural communities and participants with barriers to employment. Lachman said losing the state funding would force programs to reduce size or charge participants, limiting access for people in smaller communities and those with higher need. “If we lose funding, we won't be able to offer these programs for free. We won't be able to pay folks. We will have to reduce the size of these programs,” she said.

Program design and outcomes: Serve Learn Earn described three program buckets: career exploration for high-school-age students (partnering with Audubon Vermont and local CTE centers), early professional experiences (longer AmeriCorps-style terms and sector-specific credentials), and adult-focused short intensive trainings that aim to place participants quickly into trades and weatherization jobs. Lachman provided program outcomes: the network has served nearly 1,500 participants since initial funding, returned about $3,250,000 in wages to participants, enrolled more than 500 AmeriCorps members, and ran roughly 180 service projects in the prior year. She said last year the coalition served about 615 participants, 70% of whom were 24 or younger, and that 105 program participants were offered jobs on exit and 93 accepted.

Vermont Youth Conservation Corps detail: Rick Knopf, executive director of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC), told the committee VYCC runs conservation, forestry and food-and-farm crews and has expanded a forestry initiative from six crew-weeks in its first year to an expected 36 crew-weeks this year, including timber-stand improvement, invasive-species work and hazard-tree removal in partnership with state parks. Knopf described farm programming at VYCC's Richmond campus that supplies a “health care share” delivered to regional medical centers for patients experiencing food insecurity; he said the farm expects roughly 80 participants this year and cited 70,000 pounds of food and several hundred recipients as recent outputs.

Funding mix and risks: Presenters noted the coalition blends state base funding, federal sources (including AmeriCorps), and private philanthropy. Lachman and Knopf told the committee the federal funding picture is uncertain: Lachman said some federal grants have recently been frozen and later unfrozen, and Knopf noted AmeriCorps funding supports education awards that are critical to program economics. Lachman said the state investment acts as a signal to private funders and helps leverage philanthropic dollars for indirect costs and overhead.

Committee questions and next steps: Members asked about participant eligibility (including homeschooled youth and youth who have left high school), payment structures (stipends versus hourly pay), articulation with CTE and higher-education credit (dual enrollment pilot and college credit for crew leaders), and the program's ability to place graduates into local employers. Lachman said she would provide committee members with a detailed listing of how each of the coalition's 12 programs pays participants and what credentialing or college-credit options exist. The committee did not take formal action during the hearing; staff said the committee will review budget presentations as it prepares recommendations.

Ending: Presenters asked the committee to consider the budget request as a means to stabilize a network that they say expands opportunities in rural areas and connects participants to in-demand employers. “The more that we have certainty and commitments from partners, funding partners, the better that is — it's a bulwark against possible changes that are coming,” Knopf said.","Serve Learn Earn told the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry that a $2.5 million annual base appropriation would help sustain and scale paid service-training programs that connect young Vermonters with conservation, agriculture and trades employers.","actionData","errors"]

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Vineyard owner urges change to current-use law after land-use change tax assessed on leased acreage purchase

Serve Learn Earn asks lawmakers to increase base funding to expand paid youth training statewide