Housing and conservation groups press Vermont House committee to fully fund VHCB at $36.9 million

Members of Vermont’s housing and conservation community urged the House Committee on General and Housing on Feb. 14 to fully fund the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) at the level recommended by the governor — $36.9 million — to maintain current programs and to support new, one-time housing investments.

The request came during a legislative day in which representatives of the Housing and Conservation Coalition and several nonprofit developers described completed and planned projects that they said rely on VHCB funding. “We ask each year that you support full funding for the Housing Conservation Board through the property transfer tax,” said Chris Donnelly, Champlain Housing Trust, noting the governor’s recommendation of $36.9 million.

Why it matters: Witnesses said VHCB dollars fund both permanently affordable housing and conservation projects that preserve farmland, forests and public-access recreation areas. Patrick Shattuck, executive director of Rural Edge, said VHCB-supported developments in the Northeast Kingdom have created and preserved long-term affordable units and emergency shelter capacity, and provide an ongoing local tax base.

Rural Edge projects and resident impact

Patrick Shattuck told the…