VEPC urges 10-year TIF review, rejects new CHIP board in testimony on S.127

Burlington, Vt. — On April 25, 2025, the Vermont House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development heard testimony on S.127, the CHIP infrastructure program bill, from Jessica Hartleben, executive director of the Vermont Economic Progress Council (VEPC). Hartleben and VEPC staff recommended adjustments to reporting, a 10-year financial review for tax-increment financing (TIF) style districts, clearer language on “excess increment,” and against the creation of a separate CHIP oversight board.

Hartleben told the committee that VEPC views CHIP as an infrastructure investment for municipalities rather than a direct housing subsidy for developers. “We see this as an infrastructure investment in Vermont communities that are gonna benefit future generations of Vermonters,” she said. She said VEPC is prepared to administer the program, provide annual, performance-based reports, and work with partners on data if the legislature requests more detail.

Why it matters: S.127 would create a program to help municipalities build water, sewer, roads and other infrastructure intended to enable housing development. Committee members pressed VEPC on how retained tax increment would be handled, how the program would verify housing and affordability outcomes, and whether…