Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Capital Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Institutions committee revises capital spreadsheet, rebalances bonding and cash to free $4.5 million for grants
Summary
Legislative fiscal staff presented a revised capital spreadsheet that trims some bonded projects, reorders reallocations and frees about $4.5 million in cash — $2 million of which is earmarked for three community projects — while the panel debates shifting major maintenance from cash to bonded funding to stay within capacity.
Legislative fiscal staff told the Institutions Committee on March 19 that a new version of the capital spreadsheet trims some projects and reshuffles reallocations so the bill, as drafted, frees roughly $4.5 million in cash for appropriation.
The spreadsheet, identified in committee as version 1.2 and distributed by staff, shows total proposed bonded capital projects of about $104.6 million and a bonding capacity figure the staff described as roughly $106.9 million (the governor's recommended bonding plus bond premium). Scott Moore of the Joint Fiscal Office walked members through changes from the prior draft and pointed out that of the $4.5 million the committee would free for cash appropriations, $2 million is already designated for three community projects the staff referred to as the "3 B's" (Bennington, Barre and Brattleboro).
The committee discussed shifting $8 million currently designated as major maintenance from cash to bonded dollars to relieve a cash shortfall and stay within bonding limits. Members proposed offsetting that change by moving several smaller projects from bonded to cash — suggestions included a 3-acre parcel and Rutland's multimodal garage — in order to preserve overall bonding capacity while restoring cash balance.
Committee members raised accounting and tracking concerns if cash reallocations are allowed to defray projects listed in the bonded sections. Legislative counsel and fiscal staff recommended keeping cash reallocations visible in a dedicated cash section (referred to in discussion as "section 19") so that the totals in bonded sections continue to align with the bonded amounts shown on the spreadsheet. Scott Moore said he would produce an updated spreadsheet reflecting committee direction.
Members asked staff to preserve auditability and clear tracking of which projects are paid with bonded dollars versus cash. Several members proposed a small working group (chair plus two experienced members) to meet with Moore and Legislative Council to refine spreadsheet presentation and language so committee members and external stakeholders can follow allocations more easily.
The committee did not take a formal vote during this session. Staff said an updated spreadsheet would be circulated later the same day. A number of specific line-item edits were noted in the discussion (see clarifying details).
