Senate accepts conference report on $2 billion housing infrastructure program, sets $200 million annual cap

The Vermont Senate on May 30 accepted and adopted the committee of conference report on S.127, an act to create a Community and Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP) to finance infrastructure for housing development, and immediately sent the measure to the governor.

The measure would authorize up to $2 billion in infrastructure investment over 20 years, with a $200 million annual cap on approved increment and a program sunset in 2035. Proponents said the program uses a tax-increment financing model to allow communities to retain a portion of growth in property value to pay for streets, stormwater, transportation and other infrastructure tied to new housing.

Senator from Chittenden Southeast, the conference-report presenter, told the Senate the program is intended to expand tax-increment tools beyond Vermont’s largest downtowns so “any community who can put a project together, with partners” can apply. She said conference negotiators added “economically focused parameters” including a sunset in 2035 and an enhanced increment-retention split for affordable-housing projects (described in…