Vermont Governor Phil Scott joined legislative and housing leaders in a press conference last week to update the public on the first year progress of the Building Homes Together campaign.
In an effort to increase the availability of affordable homes in Vermont, Champlain Housing Trust teamed up with Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission and Housing Vermont to set a goal of 3,500 new homes within 5 years, with 20% of them being permanently affordable.
Governor Phil Scott signed S. 135 last week, a bill to encourage economic growth and affordable housing. Although the law was signed on June 8, 2017, portions of the bill are effective on date of enactment of the FY 2018-2019 budget. Vermont State Treasurer Beth Pearce (pictured), also on VHFA's Board of Commissioners, was one of the bill signing speakers.
Among other things, the bill makes development in state-designated centers faster and more affordable by increasing the downtown tax credits by $200,000, exempting housing projects from Act 250 review and enabling six new Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts.
At the invitation of Senator Patrick Leahy, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro visited Burlington yesterday to meet with the state’s housing leaders and attend a ribbon-cutting at the new Bright Street affordable housing project.
On October 12, VHFA’s executive director, Sarah Carpenter, joined housing finance leaders from other states and from the National Council of State Housing Agencies at a White House convening on affordable housing.
HUD organized the forum primarily to engage key stakeholders in the results of the 20 regional convenings it held this past year, the FY 2012 HUD budget, and the American Jobs Act.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donavan stressed the importance of the housing community uniting in an effort to secure the maximum possible funding for federal housing programs. He urged groups not to “fight over the pieces… their share of the pie” but instead to “speak as housers, with one voice in support of more resources overall.”
Journalist and noted curmudgeon H.L. Menken once observed, "For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."
Such is the case with claims we're seeing recently that investment in affordable homeownership triggered the current global fiscal crisis.