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Committee agrees schedule for statewide land bank report, DHCD seeks more time
Summary
The Senate committee agreed to request an interim update from the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development on a proposed state land bank by Jan. 15, 2026, and a final report by Nov. 1, 2026. DHCD said the work is large, staff-limited and will require interagency coordination and study of funding, tax-sale and foreclosure processes.
The Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs asked the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development to provide an interim update on designing a statewide land bank by Jan. 15, 2026, and set a target for a final report on Nov. 1, 2026.
The request came after Sean Gilpin, director of the Housing Division at the Department of Housing and Community Development, told the committee the department needs more time to develop statutory language and a legal framework. “I’m not here asking for money. I’m just here asking for time,” Gilpin said, describing the project as “a really important, but also a really expansive tool.”
The committee’s interest stems from language in House Bill H.479, which as passed by the House requires DHCD to issue a report outlining a legal framework for a state land bank on or before Nov. 1, 2025. Gilpin told the committee the department cannot meet that deadline with current staffing and asked instead for an interim update in January and a fuller proposal by the late 2026 date the committee discussed.
Why it matters: committee members and outside witnesses said a land bank could centralize and coordinate existing efforts to address vacant, blighted and tax-foreclosed properties — a patchwork of programs the state has used to remediate and reuse land. The committee signaled broad support for allowing DHCD more time to prepare careful statutory language and to study funding, tax-sale and foreclosure process implications.
Department capacity and scope: Gilpin told the committee the Housing Division has three permanent staff and three limited-service positions that expire next year; the division currently stewards $82,500,000 across 13 programs. He said the department has been consulting with outside experts and other states, including Michigan and Maine, and would like to pursue partnerships with higher-education programs and other organizations to add capacity.
Outside expertise and examples: Joseph Rivett, executive director of the Michigan State Land Bank Authority, and a land bank practitioner identified as Jim Tishler described Michigan’s experience. Tishler noted Michigan’s statutory vehicle is Act 258 of 2003, the Land Bank Fast Track Act, which established a state land bank and a mechanism for local participation through intergovernmental agreements. Rivett said Michigan’s model was created as an economic-development tool and suggested Vermont consult the Center for Community Progress and the National Land Bank Network for comparative research and funding ideas.
Data presented to committee: Rivett and staff provided selected measures reported by the Michigan land bank, including an item the presenters described as 22,645 parcels moved to productive reuse since Feb. 2010 and an increase in state-equalized value associated with their work since Feb. 2020 that the presenters summarized for the committee. The presenters said some metrics (for example, value increases) were tracked only beginning in 2020.
Next steps and committee direction: Committee members accepted the department’s request for more time and asked DHCD to return with an interim update by Jan. 15, 2026, and seek a fuller proposal to be available for committee review by Nov. 1, 2026. The committee also asked DHCD to include analysis of funding mechanisms, options for statewide versus regional or municipal land bank authority, and related processes such as foreclosure and tax-sale procedures.
No formal vote was recorded on the floor of the committee in the transcript; the record shows committee members agreed to the interim update schedule and the revised timeline for a final report.
Sources and attribution: quotations and figures in this report are drawn from committee testimony and exchanges, chiefly from Sean Gilpin (Director, Housing Division, Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development), Joseph Rivett (Executive Director, Michigan State Land Bank Authority) and Jim Tishler (land bank witness).
