Committee debates H.397: codified buyouts, reimbursement scheme and pilot‑fund shift draw scrutiny

House Ways & Means on March 18 considered H.397, a bill that would codify an existing voluntary buyout program for flood‑prone properties, create a new municipal reimbursement program for lost property tax revenue, add positions within the Division of Emergency Management and alter how local option ‘‘pilot’’ receipts are split between municipalities and the state.

The bill, presented by legislative staff and discussed at length by committee members and Joint Fiscal Office analysts, would require the Division of Emergency Management (VEM) to run a voluntary buyout program and obligate municipalities, at a property owner’s request, to coordinate with VEM to purchase flood‑prone properties at full fair market value. Under the committee’s report, municipalities that acquire those properties would be required to preserve them as open space by recording a deed restriction; those restrictions are currently required by FEMA when buyouts are tied to FEMA grants.

Committee members and staff emphasized why the buyout and reimbursement language matters. Under the proposal, the Commissioner of Public Safety (VEM) must certify eligible properties to the Commissioner of Taxes by Sept. 1 of a given year. Eligibility is defined for properties acquired on or after July 1, 2023, that have been preserved as open space by covenant or deed restriction. Reimbursement payments would be calculated using the municipal grand‑list value for the year the property was damaged or identified as flood‑prone, multiplied by the municipal tax rates (including submunicipal rates). The bill…