[G]ov. Phil Scott is championing a $1 million plan to attract young families and workers to Vermont by cutting the costs of owning a home.
The governor said provisions in a bill in the House, including introducing a homeowner tax credit and expanding a down payment assistance program, would achieve many of the goals he laid out in his budget in January.
“It will help build and grow stronger communities and make housing ownership and renovation affordable for our workforce,” Scott said at a press conference Tuesday morning.
The bill, H.766, would allocate $625,000 to pay for a new tax credit to help homeowners renovate their properties, increasing the quality and quantity of housing.
“One of the barriers to attracting more families and young professionals is decent affordable housing,” Scott said. “But a challenge that we have is that in many communities, the cost to repair and update existing housing stock exceeds the value of the building.”
The new tax credit would create more housing options for families close to where they work, go to school and shop, Scott said.
H.766 also would add $125,000 in additional funding for the Vermont Housing Finance Agency’s down payment assistance program for first time homebuyers.
Scott said 600 homebuyers already have used the program, which, without the proposed funding increase, faces a 50 percent cut.
The Vermont Department of Labor on Monday published an analysis of employment data from January 2018 that highlights the state’s need to retain a larger workforce.
Vermont’s unemployment rate of 2.9 percent is low. And even as employers are adding hundreds of jobs, Vermont lacks the workers to fill many of the new positions, the department’s analysis says.
Between January 2017 and January 2018, private industry in Vermont added 1,100 jobs. The government, including public schools, added 600 jobs, according to the department, which noted the data are not seasonally adjusted.
“The limiting factor on economic growth in Vermont is the labor force,” Labor Commissioner Lindsay Kurrle said in a news release. “Employers are reporting openings for jobs they cannot fill due to a lack of applicants.”
When asked on Tuesday about how he planned to address Vermont’s workforce shortage, Scott spoke of his signature ThinkVermont initiative.
“We’re still hoping that the Legislature will look favorably upon that,” he said.
The initiative includes a proposal called ThinkVermont/MOVE: a sustained, data driven campaign to identify, engage and attract potential workers to move to the state.
The administration has asked the legislature to fund the proposal with $3.2 million.
In addition to providing aid to homeowners, H.766 also would increase the state’s investment in downtown and village tax credits by $250,000. The tax credits encourage revitalization and construction in communities across the state.
The bill is now before the House Committee on Ways and Means, which will vote on the proposal later this week.
