Municipal Priorities

• Provide additional technical assistance to municipalities, including through a $250,000 appropriation to VLCT to continue its Federal Funding Assistance Program.
• Increase equitable access to state and federal funding by reducing barriers to application.
• Incentivize regional, intermunicipal, and cost sharing initiatives and governance models.
• Enable authority necessary for efficient and effective municipal governance by advancing a list of VLCT technical corrections.
• Limit new mandates and directives on municipalities that strain existing capacity.

Establish Municipal Revenue Sharing

• Authorize municipal voters to adopt a variety of local option taxes in every Vermont city and town.
• Establish revenue sharing programs that are sustainable, equitable, and distributed through a needs-based allocation.
• Consolidate and allocate state grant programs through a non-competitive, equitable, needs-based process.

Increase and Expand Opportunities for Housing Development

• Implement state and regional mapping that greenlights at least five percent of Vermont’s land mass for housing development.
• Reform state, regional, and local regulations to encourage new construction and rehabilitation of existing property that will increase the number of “missing middle” and affordable housing units in the state.
• Reform existing state affordable housing priorities to increase funding for the development and construction of “missing middle” housing to at least ten percent of the state’s annual affordable housing investment.
• Provide resources and funding for infrastructure development to municipalities that support housing growth.
• Implement State Designation reform, recognizing the need for new designated areas that allow future growth, are climate informed, and are safe from flooding.
• Direct housing incentives and programs to State Designated areas, including new areas recognized for growth in municipal plans.
• Eliminate Act 250 jurisdiction over new and existing projects in all Designated Downtowns, Growth Centers, New Town Centers, and Village Centers, and in municipalities with robust zoning and development capacity.
• Consult with local governments when planning how to provide transitional housing, emergency shelter, and integrated support services to alleviate houselessness.

Renew Support for Public Safety

• Develop new initiatives and incentives to address the critical shortage of public safety personnel (police, fire, and EMS) and implement new ways to recruit, train, and retain them.
• Emphasize wellness, safety, mental health, and critical incident stress management.
• Address community public safety concerns and hold repeat offenders accountable with sensible bail reform.
• Implement recommendations from the Regional Emergency Medical Services (EMS) coordination study and annual EMS Advisory Committee report.
• Enhance procedural justice in law enforcement and continue efforts to:
  • ensure fair, equitable, and impartial practices;
  • build trust especially among marginalized, vulnerable, and disadvantaged people;
  • create policy and oversight mechanisms consistent with local governance structures;
  • embrace community policing principles that include crime reduction strategies; and
  • provide sufficient funding to attain these goals.

Ensure Open Meeting Law Equity

• Support increased public participation by making fully remote meetings a permanent voluntary option under the Open Meeting Law.
• Reduce expenses, carbon emissions, time, and effort by using 21st century technology for more efficient and accessible local government.
• Provide Vermont’s public, educational, and government (PEG) channels with funding to continue assisting municipalities with remote and hybrid meetings.