Committee hears debate on H.134 current-use changes; experts back predictable penalty but warn against weakening it

The Vermont House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry heard extended testimony on H.134 and related current-use issues, with experts urging an administrative fix that would make the land use change tax predictable for landowners while cautioning against weakening the penalty that discourages short-term “parking’’ of enrolled land.

Jamie, a VNRC staff member who testified for the Vermont Natural Resources Council, told the committee that a working group of land‑use stakeholders had reviewed the current-use program and concluded the development penalty had become a weak deterrent in many cases. “It was…seen as a very weak penalty,” Jamie said, adding that the average breakeven point under the current formula is about six to seven years, meaning landowners enrolled longer than that typically see a net financial benefit from enrollment.

The committee heard that the working group — which included representatives from the Vermont Land Trust, Vermont Woodlands Association, Vermont Farm Bureau, The Nature Conservancy, Rural Vermont and Audubon Vermont — examined options to preserve program viability while responding to housing pressures. Jamie said the group favors retaining a meaningful development penalty and recommended an administrative change that would provide upfront predictability for landowners: an online calculator or chart based on municipal land schedules that…