[{"_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",6107083,"mediaKeyId","2779028-e32289b0e2da4322be2128d450389e9e","parentId",2779028,"title","Housing agencies back a state-certified affordable-housing property class to protect low-cost units","audioSeconds",1408,"startMs",2067000,"endMs",3475000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2779028-e32289b0e2da4322be2128d450389e9e&start=2067&end=3475","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2779028-e32289b0e2da4322be2128d450389e9e/thumbnail_2067000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6107083/Vermont/Housing-agencies-back-a-state-certified-affordable-housing-property-class-to-protect-low-cost-units","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6107083-fd8b6b0d47d8c19b3b3986f0429c56e1/orig.mp4?Expires=1777675245&Signature=WAjdmyc3Q-1AcMSRQMBIppvbboc8EQ-GfLLKRSV47Ij5StEtssiQOC47TI8ePr1e9bvOmzNP5c1Hj5iT9xpEX7iJNuSSznyyzAQGpYCL7N9c5~f7vXYm3iSrTPl4ESX6i-cjq6JL1pbxeR65uQ9JjrRqTvFTdb1ESjV-65-TH9h~tKQADWZviHb~EJwVjUyjMw4S1o-kx8-nBNbWaAjP-OsU5iG4GIrGaqXzi~YkbpBps9B8RU077JQO3V~aPU1wqq-ZjVx9vuDMIJZ8Q9-LC7u1cXnuE6QMqBuvBG4PdlJ1JJ1fO7NunvhifKJmysxTQU3b7iRDlXTp5cQTTZjdYg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-03-26T13:04:25Z","article","For the record, I'm Chad Simmons with the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, he said as he opened testimony on the proposed affordable-housing property classification.

Representatives of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) told the Ways & Means Committee that a state-certified classification for affordable housing would add predictability to the narrow operating margins of perpetually affordable rental properties and improve application of existing valuation adjustments under Act 68.

The Nut Graf: Chad Simmons (VHFA) and Polly Majer (policy director, VHCB) said an affordable-housing classification administered by a state agency — with VHFA helping maintain the directory of certified properties — would protect long-term affordability, help small operating budgets absorb tax costs, and expand the pool of projects that could safely carry private debt and leverage state funding to build more units.

Simmons summarized VHFA’s certification work and statistics: Act 68 created a mechanism to provide a reduced property assessment for eligible affordable developments, and VHFA historically handled recertification on a 10-year cycle (the agency successfully advocated in 2023 to remove a statutory sunset). He said that between 2002 and 2023 VHFA-certified properties numbered in the hundreds and that the program served “a little over 12,000 units” in the snapshot they analyzed.

Simmons and VHFA staff cited operating data they said showed the typical household in these properties had very low income (VHFA’s slide described an average household income around $18,000 and typical monthly rent near $445). They estimated property taxes accounted for about 11% of operating expenses in the buildings they assessed. For those reasons, VHFA supports certification by a state agency and regular inclusion of single-family year-round rentals (about 23% of single-family homes statewide are used as rentals) and certain manufactured-home stock in the classification.

Polly Majer of VHCB said a property that commits via a housing subsidy covenant to perpetual affordability cannot raise rents to cover unexpected costs; that constraint makes predictable property-tax treatment important for sustaining maintenance, lowering the cost-share for debt service, and enabling more construction. “When a property makes a commitment through a housing subsidy covenant to provide perpetual affordable rents, that means that those managers have to be very judicious in how they're managing their budgets because they cannot increase their rent to cover other expenses,” Majer said.

Administrability and scope: Witnesses acknowledged the certification workload would be significant if done annually and favored a single certifying entity (the draft initially named VHFA for annual work, but witnesses recommended the Legislature identify or empower a state agency and have VHFA continue in a supporting role). They noted some housing types currently outside standard classifications — refugee housing, recovery housing, VHFA’s rental-revolving loan fund projects, and certain manufactured-home settings — need explicit consideration if the Legislature adopts the classification.

Municipal implementation: VHFA described the current process in which property managers submit certification paperwork to VHFA and then provide that paperwork to municipalities for tax-processing; witnesses said municipalities vary in capacity and that standardization and regionalization of valuation processes would reduce repeated appeals and mismatches in application of the Act 68 adjustment.

Ending: Witnesses proposed the affordable-housing classification as a targeted policy lever to preserve affordable rentals, lower risk for owners and lenders, and allow state funding to be leveraged more effectively for new construction. They asked Ways & Means to consult VHFA and VHCB about which nontraditional or temporally subsidized properties should qualify and to consider the operational burden of annual recertification.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Ways and Means – 2025-03-26 – 9:00AM","oneSentenceSummary","The Vermont Housing Finance Agency and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board told Ways & Means that creating a state-administered affordable-housing property classification (building on Act 68) would help preserve thin-margin rental properties, reduce operating uncertainty and support long-term production of permanently affordable units.","taxTitle","Ways & Means, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",35157,"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},6107088,"Vermont education groups press Ways & Means for predictable, equitable funding as foundation formula debated",1931,98000,2029000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2779028-e32289b0e2da4322be2128d450389e9e&start=98&end=2029","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2779028-e32289b0e2da4322be2128d450389e9e/thumbnail_98000.jpg","/articles/6107088/Vermont/Vermont-education-groups-press-Ways-Means-for-predictable-equitable-funding-as-foundation-formula-debated","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6107088-15636467105a1a7cbf084792f0f6ddca/orig.mp4?Expires=1777675245&Signature=jaI5IEDXH~H7lwJtqGY7e9sYrP6awb1YTkUE-OlWahgPPUlDwfn8FRYRL8n65mqmEqNbdgIMkcPFxKyo8z83cQets3L3xa6g~yMtrSDwV5CmAMDrZEJPpBYtj0XpzS7k5plcJ6oJltf5q5ejMOGCkIF8h9-kvWXBZejgboyuGFt7DXiJD6tnhNZNajXE66~EWgY5PmBNmM~xDqcYYJA1V7z42MJ5gqgVvCM4DbHi6Y425ApGmavbSZXvbKexyD-eiAaL1Mm8nO061BCxWY5L-QHTFlKBQJFg6ZPFLMLofc5coat5f2OSQsbSNQ3tJoQJNqjwMxk0nhHJ3-ykszTTCQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Good morning. I'm Sue Szyglowski, Executive Director for the Vermont School Boards Association. Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify this morning, she told the House Ways & Means Committee as she opened testimony on an education funding redesign.

The Vermont School Boards Association and the advocacy group Public Assets told the committee that the state should move cautiously toward a foundation funding model for schools and align any tax changes to measures of ability to pay and predictable, timely data reporting.

The Nut Graf: Sue Szyglowski and Steph Huey said a new “education opportunity payment” or foundation amount should be set on a baseline that reflects current district needs, include a reliable annual inflator, and be accompanied by data, modeling and a multi-year transition so districts and taxpayers can adjust. They urged rules ensuring private schools that receive public tuition meet the same accountability standards as public districts and pressed the Legislature to address major cost drivers — notably school employee health care and expanding mental-health services — before locking in a new funding structure.

Szyglowski said the Vermont School Boards Association supports the Vermont Superintendents Association’s timeline and framework for “incremental change” in the education system and asked the committee to ensure the base funding amount remains “adequate, stable, and predictable.” She noted the inflator in the draft bill but warned that a simple inflation adjustment may not keep pace with faster-growing costs such as health insurance and tuition.

Public Assets Executive Director Steph Huey focused on who pays school taxes and how to make support more progressive. “Income is the best measure we have of ability to pay,” Huey said, and argued that primary residence value is an increasingly poor proxy for household ability to pay.

Huey’s analysis, presented to the committee, estimated that households paying school taxes based on property include a smaller share of households by count but hold a much larger share of statewide income — she cited roughly one-third of households accounting for about two-thirds of aggregate income in the sample she described (about $13,000,000,000 of household income for the highest-earning group). She urged the committee to require yearly tax-department reporting of aggregate statistics — homestead taxes paid, total adjusted gross income of filers, and related town- and district-level aggregates — to track who pays and how tax changes affect equity.

Both witnesses warned against unintended consequences from a foundation model that sets a base amount with optional spending above the base. Huey and Szyglowski said wealthy or better-resourced districts are likely to spend above a foundation base, creating a floor/ceiling dynamic that can widen disparities unless the Legislature carefully designs transition rules and accountability.

On cost drivers, Szyglowski singled out school employee health benefits as a pressing issue. She said collectively bargained arrangements have created employer obligations that are consuming a growing share of district budgets — rising in recent years from under 10% of budgets to about 15% and projected to reach roughly 20% — and recommended revisiting statewide bargaining for healthcare to control those costs.

Discussion vs. decision: Witnesses provided recommendations and analysis; the committee did not take formal votes during this testimony. Several committee members asked follow-up questions about specific provisions such as a proposed homestead exemption and phase-ins; witnesses said they would supply written testimony and additional modeling for the committee’s review.

Ending: Witnesses asked for more and earlier district-level modeling and for a clear timeline from the Agency of Education so boards can incorporate any new “education opportunity payment” into their budget calendar. They urged targeted buy-downs or tax-relief measures aimed at low- and moderate-income households if the Legislature seeks near-term affordability relief rather than fully shifting to an income-based tax this year.","Representatives of the Vermont School Boards Association and Public Assets urged Ways & Means lawmakers to design any move to a foundation funding formula so it preserves predictability for districts, targets tax relief to low- and moderate-income households, and addresses major cost drivers such as employee health care and student mental health.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Housing agencies back a state-certified affordable-housing property class to protect low-cost units

Vermont education groups press Ways & Means for predictable, equitable funding as foundation formula debated