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VHCB witness urges evaluation of farmworker housing pilot instead of a new statewide farm survey
Summary
Vermont Housing Conservation Board testimony recommended a program evaluation of the Champlain Housing Trust pilot that has provided forgivable repairs and replacement loans to farmworker housing, rather than a new on‑farm survey; lawmakers were told continued funding and clearer bill language will be needed to sustain the program.
Pauly Major of the Vermont Housing Conservation Board (VHCB) told the House Committee on General & Housing that VHCB supports S.328's attention to farmworker housing but urged lawmakers to direct a program evaluation of the pilot the agency helped stand up rather than commissioning a new statewide on‑farm needs survey.
Major summarized VHCB's 2020 farmworker housing needs assessment and said the agency issued an RFP that selected Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) to operate a pilot program. Major reported the pilot offers forgivable repairs of up to $30,000 (forgivable over 10 years) and loans up to $120,000 for replacement housing. She said the program has supported repairs and replacements that address septic, electrical and mold remediation and has produced "really dramatic before and after pictures" for participating farms.
Major provided program totals reported to the committee: she said the pilot has supported roughly 74 repaired units and six full replacements, serving about 300 farmworkers to date, and estimated total investment "around $2 million" while noting she would confirm precise figures for the record. Major also said the pilot has been funded from one‑time VHCB appropriations and is not established in statute, which constrains its sustainability without future legislative support.
Committee members pressed Major on program details, including whether forgivable assistance counts as taxable income. Major said she would get confirmation from administrators; members referenced a prior interpretation that a forgivable loan can spread a small taxable benefit across years but agreed to await VHCB's written clarification.
On the question of whether the bill's section on farmworker housing should direct a new needs assessment that would visit farms and identify residents, Major warned against moving ahead with a farm‑level survey at this point. "This needs assessment isn't that old. It's from 2020," she said, and recommended instead a focused evaluation of the CHT pilot to answer whether the program is meeting the needs identified earlier and what barriers remain. Major offered to return next session with a program evaluation and recommendations if the committee asks VHCB to do that work.
Major also urged the committee to clarify S.328's language to distinguish between a program evaluation and a broader land‑use or on‑farm housing study, saying the methodologies and policy implications differ and that a separate land‑use study could be useful but would be a different assignment.
The committee did not take immediate action; Major said VHCB will provide the committee with any requested clarifications (on taxes and exact funding totals) and that continued legislative support would be necessary for the pilot to continue at scale.
