Joint Fiscal Committee reviews House one‑time appropriations, flags roughly $148.5M in add‑backs

The Joint Fiscal Committee spent its meeting reviewing the House and governor proposals for one‑time appropriations in the FY27 budget, receiving a line‑by‑line briefing from Joint Fiscal Office staff that totaled roughly $148.5 million in one‑time funds in the House plan and identified about $38–39 million in one‑time general‑fund add‑backs compared with $30 million in the governor’s plan.

The briefing concentrated on three revenue buckets treated as one‑time: prior‑year reversions (a little over $10 million), anticipated carryforwards (about $75 million that staff flagged as one‑time), and reserves that the governor and House have handled differently (two $30 million reserves, one of which the House agreed to unreserve to reduce property tax rates). "There were two $30 million reserves established," a Joint Fiscal Office presenter said, and the House has agreed to unreserve one to make that money available for transfers or appropriations.

Why it matters: the committee must reconcile competing choices with no new revenue; some items are purely one‑time and others create policy or statutory changes that could affect future budgets. Committee members pressed staff on how miscellaneous tax bill changes and federal tax linkages alter the near‑term revenue picture, including a roughly $4 million reduction in anticipated corporate tax revenue that affects carryforwards into FY27.

Details from the staff briefing and House changes

- Reversions and carryforwards: Staff identified a little over $10 million in reversions and noted an estimated $75 million available to carry forward into FY27. Those sums are being treated as one‑time funds available for appropriation.

- Reserves and property tax relief: The House and governor differed on two $30 million reserves originally established for federal fund issues and property tax relief. The House unreserved one of those $30 million appropriations to make it available for property tax rate reduction or transfer.

- Total one‑time funds and general‑fund add‑backs: JFO staff summarized that the House’s total one‑time resources available are roughly $148.5 million; separately, staff identified about $38–39 million in one‑time general‑fund appropriations (or “one‑time appropes”) compared with the governor’s roughly $30 million figure for comparable items.

- Programmatic one‑time appropriations: The House added or adjusted many targeted one‑time investments. Examples flagged by staff include a $1.5 million grant to End Homelessness Vermont; additional funding for supervised visitation programs and legal aid (including funding to hire or contract for an immigration attorney); Meals on Wheels (a half‑million dollar general‑fund investment that matches to roughly $1.2 million total under global commitment); $450,000 for election support; $50,000 for civic journalism awards; funding for AEDs in schools; and support for Vermont Youth Council.

- Housing and rental arrears: The House added a $1 million rental arrears fund (described as a grant to VHSA/VHFA in the briefing) and staff tied some rental‑support changes to H772 and to adjustments in H3938 reallocating one‑time appropriations.

- Transfers to special funds and capital needs: Staff explained multiple transfers from the general fund to named special funds including $500,000 for a Vermont State Police radio equipment replacement fund, $350,000 to a domestic and sexual violence special fund, $1 million to the communications and information technology internal service fund to shore up ADS, and $1.3 million to a community resilience/disaster mitigation fund intended for towns denied EMA reimbursement.

- Technical corrections and reporting requirements: The House made several statutory and language changes that staff labeled technical and said would be addressed in a technical letter. The House also added reporting requirements (for example, expanded reporting on ARPA reallocations and a multi‑year JFO review of special funds with an initial report due Dec. 15, 2026).

- Program gating and approvals: The House added language restricting further expenditures on the Green Mountain Youth Campus until the Joint Fiscal Committee, in consultation with relevant committee chairs, approves resumption of spending — effectively pausing further development until the committee reviews cost and implementation plans.

- Positions and personnel: The House created and converted a number of positions and used the position pool for some permanent classifications, including a mediation position at the Vermont Labor Relations Board and other permanent exempt or classified positions across agencies.

Process and next steps

Committee members set a two‑week timeline to reconcile the House and governor differences and asked standing committees to return prioritized requests and questions (for example, clarifications on program eligibility or match requirements) by the end of the week. Staff said technical corrections in a technical letter would be reviewed early next week and that further agency follow‑up (e.g., on eligibility for certain benefits or how education‑fund dollars will be applied) will be scheduled.

The meeting closed after members discussed how to balance priorities without new revenue — either by reassigning one‑time funds or carving from other House changes — and agreed to continue deliberations at the next scheduled meeting.