Senate panel hears how Vermont handles carry forward and reversions in FY25 budget adjustment act

Deputy Commissioner of Finance and Management told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 4 that “when we use the term, reversion in, in law and in practice, what we are referring to are is dollars left in an appropriation at the end of a fiscal year that that is unspent.” The deputy commissioner said the default in statute is that appropriations revert at fiscal year end, but the annual Budget Adjustment Act (BAA) often includes session‑law language allowing specified funds and appropriations to be carried forward into the next fiscal year subject to approval by the secretary of administration.

The deputy commissioner said the carry‑forward process is operationalized by first automatically carrying remaining spending authority forward on July 1, then requiring departments to submit carry‑forward expenditure plans. “We review their plan and then say, yes, we'll recommend the the secretary approve that or no, we won't,” the deputy commissioner said, explaining that the secretary of administration gives final approval and that Finance and Management provides recommendations after reviewing department plans.

Why it matters: carry forward and reversion decisions determine whether unspent balances remain available for a department to finish multiyear…