BGS presents FY2026 budget; highlights Montpelier flood recovery, fleet and postal concerns

Commissioner Wanda Manoli, Commissioner of Buildings and General Services, presented the agencybudget request for fiscal year 2026 to the Vermont House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 14, outlining modest increases across most divisions and a multiyear focus on flood recovery work in Montpelier.

Manoli said BGS has 334 full-time equivalent positions and 31 current vacancies, and that the governorrecommended budget reflects step increases, cost-of-living adjustments, insurance and retirement costs rather than new programs. "Buildings and general services provides facilities and general services statewide to all agencies and departments," she said, calling customer service and internal communication priorities.

The presentation grouped line items by division. Manoli cited design and construction (budget noted in the hearing as $4,800,000), purchasing and contracting (about $3,100,000), information centers (about $5,600,000), postal services (roughly $1,000,000), the print shop (about $1,100,000), fleet management (about $1,200,000) and surplus property (about $545,000). She said the largest general-fund increase (approximately 4 percent) funds engineering and architectural staff. Manoli also described a 9.4 percent increase in interdepartmental transfer funds for shared services such as HR and finance.

Committee members questioned several operational details. On the Vermont Information Centers (rest-area visitor centers), members asked whether BGS tracks downstream impacts on businesses that advertise at the centers; Manoli said she did not have that data on hand and would follow up. She confirmed the Montpelier information center remains closed after the floods and said the agency is evaluating whether to reopen at the same site or to serve Central Vermont from a different location.

Manoli described Montpelier flood recovery as a multi-year effort that has drawn staff from other projects. She said BGS is working with FEMA on mitigation planning and damage filings and that options under review include elevating systems, raising buildings or pursuing other mitigation alternatives depending on FEMA guidance and historic-preservation considerations. "We have to come up with a flood mitigation plan that aligns with FEMA in order to maximize the dollars that we are going to get," she said.

On postal and print services, Manoli said measured mail volumes fell between FY2023 and FY2024 in part because agencies increasingly use electronic signatures and PDFs; she also said prior mail-volume figures were sampling-based. Committee members asked about a reported deficit in the print/postal fund; staff agreed to provide updated balances and to confirm whether rate adjustments require legislative approval.

Fleet and motor-pool operations drew questions about vehicle counts and electrification. Manoli said the statewide fleet is about 638 vehicles in total, with a motor-pool of about 48 vehicles and roughly 590 assigned vehicles. She said the fleet includes battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids but she did not have a detailed breakdown of how many are all-electric and said staff would follow up with that data.

On property management and fee-for-space, Manoli described the difference between leased space (managed in the property-management program) and state-owned space (managed under the fee-for-space program). She said BGS currently manages more than 2 million square feet of state-owned space and leases roughly 800,000 square feet. She noted a small set of state-owned properties (including 108 Cherry Street in Burlington) sit in the property-management program for legacy reasons; 108 Cherry Street is under a purchase-and-sale agreement with an extension through mid-2026, she said.

Manoli summarized the agency ask as a budget of roughly $60.3 million for BGS operations (she described the total as an overall increase and the presentation included division-level dollar figures). She identified principal challenges as completing Montpelier flood mitigation work while filling vacancies and balancing staff assignments, and said she will press for more active space-utilization planning and alignment of telework and occupancy across state buildings.

Committee members and staff requested follow-up materials on several items, including: verification of the postal/print fund balance and whether rate changes require legislative approval; data on advertising impacts from the information centers; a breakdown of electric versus hybrid vehicles in the fleet; and an inventory showing how many vehicles are pool-assigned versus permanently assigned. Manoli and her staff (including Jason Pienard, the agency financial lead; Deputy Commissioner Emily Kaszewski; Paul Barney, legislative and communications staff; and Harmony Wilder, financial director) agreed to provide those details after the hearing.

No formal committee action or vote on appropriations was taken during the presentation.

Looking ahead, Manoli said the agency will continue to prioritize deliverables tied to FEMA filings and mitigation options for the flood-damaged Capital Complex, and that BGS will review utilization and telework alignment to reduce leased space where feasible.