Regional planning commissions tell Natural Resources & Energy panel they are on track for statutory planning deadlines but face funding and staffing strain

Leaders of Vermont's 11 regional planning commissions briefed the Natural Resources & Energy Committee on Jan. 17 about their role helping towns with planning, permitting and project delivery, and said they remain on schedule to update regional plans by the end of 2026 under a statute tied to last year’s housing and land-use legislation.

The regional planning commissions (RPCs) described themselves as “political subdivisions of the state” that provide technical assistance to all municipalities, help towns access federal and state grants, and act as a bridge between local governments and agencies. Charla Baker, executive director of the Chenney County Regional Planning Commission, told the committee: “We only have money to pay our staff if there's a grant agreement from an agency, specific tasks that we're supposed to do with deliverables, and we don't get paid if we do that work.”

That funding structure, Baker said, creates persistent staffing constraints. “We never have enough staff to do the work that our town needs us to do and that the state has us to do,” she said, noting RPC budgets come almost entirely from federal and state grants with town dues representing roughly 5–7% of revenue.

Why it matters: RPCs serve as the primary technical support for municipal planning across the state and play a central role implementing changes from recent land-use and housing legislation. Their capacity affects how quickly towns can update bylaws, apply for infrastructure funding, comply with environmental permits and recover from disasters.

Most important facts

- Scope and scale: RPC leaders said there are 11 regional planning commissions, about 135 staff statewide, and that RPCs serve every municipality in the state (transcript figures cited: roughly 237 towns, 10 cities and 35 villages). Baker said RPCs provide grant-writing and project management support to towns and highlighted the range of subject areas RPCs cover, including transportation, housing, brownfields, water quality, emergency preparedness and energy.

- Implementation schedule: RPC officers said guidance required by statute (Act 81 was mentioned by presenters) was completed in December and that all 11 regional plans are on schedule to be updated by the end of 2026, the deadline set in the legislation presented to the committee. Baker said interim exemptions took effect last summer and that RPCs are meeting with municipalities now to align local, regional and state plans and permitting.

- Funding model and constraints: Presenters repeatedly said RPCs operate without general tax revenue. Revenue generally comes from federal and state grants, some program revolving funds (examples discussed included brownfields cleanup revolving loans) and limited town dues. Baker described the RPCs’ operating model as “more like a public sector consulting agency,” where most staff time must be tied to a specific grant deliverable.

- Services and recent work: Catherine Dimitryk, executive director of Northwest Regional Planning, said RPCs provided local-planning or zoning assistance to more than 122 towns last year and offered housing-specific help to 94 towns (grant applications, infrastructure support and resource guides). RPCs also reported providing brownfields assessment help to about 55 towns and operating revolving loan funds (presenters cited roughly $2,000,000 available in cleanup lending in some regions).

- Energy and municipal building work: Presenters said RPCs supported a municipal energy resilience program funded with ARPA dollars that provided mini-grants to 176 municipalities, helped assess more than 600 municipal buildings for energy conservation and supported implementation grants (presenters cited roughly $36,000,000 in implementation funding being pursued by municipalities).

- Emergency management and recovery: Christian Mayer of the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission described RPCs’ role in emergency response and recovery after recent flooding. Mayer said RPC staff worked with Vermont Emergency Management and local officials to identify needs, convene mutual aid and support buyout and relocation planning for households displaced by floods.

Committee questions and RPC requests

Committee members asked about the RPC funding formula for a flexible regional planning grant that is sourced from property transfer tax revenue; presenters said that grant splits a base equal share and a second portion allocated by number of municipalities and regional share of property transfer tax receipts. Senators also asked how RPCs coordinate with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) and regional development corporations; presenters said the groups generally play complementary roles and often refer towns to one another.

Presenters requested modest budget increases tied to existing funding lines (they said they had asked for a roughly 3% increment for the ACCD regional planning grant that flows from the property transfer tax) and offered to assist the committee in reviewing permitting processes to speed projects that the state and municipalities want to see built.

Ending

RPC leaders emphasized they are on track for the statutory planning deadlines but cautioned that limited, grant-tied funding and thin staffing make the work operationally challenging. They offered continued briefing and technical support to the committee as implementation of the recent land-use and housing changes proceeds.