Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Draft bill would let towns that already levy 1% add a second local option percent, split revenue 50/40/10
Summary
A Joint Fiscal Office and Legislative Council briefing presented draft language (24 BSA 1 38a) that would let municipalities already collecting a 1% local option tax add another 1% on any permitted tax base, with 50% kept by the town, 40% routed to a new municipal transportation special fund for town-highway aid, and 10% to the pilot special fund. Lawmakers pressed staff on timing, estimated revenue for Stowe, and whether local shares could supplant existing road spending.
A draft bill discussed at a joint House and Senate transportation committee hearing would allow municipalities that already levy a 1% local option tax to impose an additional 1% on any of the tax bases currently authorized by state law, and would distribute the added revenue in a 50/40/10 split between the host municipality, a new municipal transportation special fund, and the existing pilot special fund.
Christopher from the Joint Fiscal Office said the proposal is intended as a starting point for lawmakers weighing how to help towns that struggle to fund road maintenance. "An additional 1% in STOW would be about 3 and a half million dollars," Christopher said, later noting that including online-sales categories could raise that estimate to about $4.24 million.
Damian Leonard of the Office of Legislative Council described the bill text, saying, "A municipality that already assesses a local option…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
