Gov. Phil Scott’s administration is seeking input from the public on next year’s budget, asking Vermonters to submit comments about state expenditures through an online forum and survey.
The governor is still putting together his budget proposal for the next fiscal year and will announce spending plan to lawmakers in January.
Adam Greshin, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Finance and Management, said the administration has recently received budget proposals from the state’s agencies and departments.
He declined to go into details about the proposals submitted by state officials so far.
The governor has said that as he puts together the spending package, he is concerned about a $70 million to $80 million budget gap next year.
Administration officials predict that in fiscal year 2021, Vermont’s revenue growth won’t match the state’s spending pressures from increases in state employee salaries, growing demands on social services, and Vermont’s teacher pension debt.
“I like what I’m seeing,” Greshin said of budgets pitched by state agencies and departments so far. “But we face the challenges we always face and there are typically more desires than revenue.”
By law, the governor is required “develop a process for public participation in the development of goals and a general prioritization of spending and revenue initiatives” according to the Department of Finance and Management, which announced the budget commenting period this week.
Last year, Greshin said Vermonters submitted more than 150 budget comments to his department.
“We always like to hear from Vermonters about their priorities, about their challenges and about what they would like to see in a budget,” he said.
“We take all feedback into consideration,” he said. “We read every comment.”
