Joint Fiscal Office: committee housing bill would carry roughly $73.4 million in appropriations; $250,000 initial tax-credit cost noted

The House Committee on General & Housing heard a summary from the Joint Fiscal Office on the draft fiscal note for the committee's housing and housing development bill on March 12. James Scuffey, a fiscal analyst with the Joint Fiscal Office, told members the bill's top-line cost is about $73,406,500, almost entirely made up of program appropriations and staff positions included in the draft bill.

The fiscal note also lists a $250,000 fiscal-year-2026 appropriation connected to an extension of one of the bill's affordable-housing tax-credit programs, which Scuffey said represents the first-year fiscal cost for a newly authorized first-generation homebuyer assistance allocation. Scuffey said the down-payment assistance program referenced in the bill already has authorization to issue credits through fiscal 2026 under prior legislation; the bill extends that program from fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2031.

Why it matters: the fiscal note is the Joint Fiscal Office's accounting of what the bill would require from state funds and other sources; appropriations totals inform House Appropriations as it works competing budget requests. Scuffey told the committee the vast majority of the draft bill's appropriations would be paid from the general fund.

Committee members and staff raised several technical and implementation questions. Scuffey highlighted one provision that the fiscal note flagged as ambiguous in draft language: the $15,000 universal-design study appropriation does not clearly identify the receiving entity. Committee discussion referenced the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) and the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) as possible recipients; staff said DHCD may be a stronger fit, but that the committee should confirm with those agencies.

Scuffey also told members the fiscal note breaks down the bill into section-by-section costs (the fiscal note follows the bill's sections beginning at the affordable-housing tax-credit language in section 6 and proceeding through later sections). He said table 2 in the fiscal note shows a multiyear schedule for the two extended tax-credit programs the bill would authorize; one program's costs increase by $250,000 per year until reaching a multi-year plateau.

The fiscal office advised committee members that some appropriations in the bill are structured to draw from sources other than the general fund. Scuffey identified a separate appropriation in the draft bill that is to be funded from the opioid abatement special fund; JFO staff requested clarification of the statutory mechanism and flow of funds to the intended residential-service providers.

Committee chair Mark Mahali and committee members discussed next steps. Members asked JFO and bill staff to confirm the fiscal-year figures and to follow up with VHFA and DHCD on which agency should receive the universal-design study appropriation. Scuffey said he would follow up and that JFO staff had already been coordinating with House Appropriations staff about overlapping requests the Appropriations Committee will consider.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the bill at the March 12 session. Scuffey told members the fiscal note is available on the JFO website and that staff are available for follow-up questions.

Ending: Committee members scheduled further work with bill staff and JFO to resolve the agency recipient for the universal-design study, confirm the first-year tax-credit allocation numbers, and coordinate with House Appropriations as that committee evaluates competing budget demands.