Vermont mayors are calling for the state to allocate federal funding to the municipalities to help them cover losses in revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Vermont Mayors Coalition, which includes all eight mayors of Vermont cities, held a press conference Thursday in which they also requested an extension to borrowing deadlines for Tax Increment Financing, expressed support for mailed-in voting and reiterated their longstanding call for Act 250 reform.
The mayors also called for funding for escrow clinics and for the state to develop an alternative to the residential police academy system.
Burlington is estimating a $10 million loss in revenue due to the pandemic, a 15% reduction in general fund revenue, Mayor Miro Weinberger said. Burlington’s revenue decrease is more drastic since the city is reliant on tourists for revenue, Weinberger said.
Winooski, Newport, Montpelier and Barre furloughed some employees during the pandemic to cut costs, their mayors said, and are bracing themselves for financial uncertainty in the year ahead.
Rutland and Vergennes also cut costs during the pandemic and expect decreases in revenue.
Barre Mayor Lucas Herring said that municipalities across the state are experiencing significant decreases in revenue caused by losses in local option taxes, waived fees and delayed tax payments.
Herring said municipalities are hoping to receive possible funding from another federal coronavirus response bill.
“We strongly encourage that we have proactive advocacy from the Legislature to continue to allocate portions of the funds, if they come through, to the municipalities,” he said.
The mayors are also requesting an automatic one-year delay for municipalities to incur debt in TIF borrowing districts.
“With the loss of revenue, stalled construction and uncertainty about development projects, we are concerned about being able to meet those debt service ratios and be able to keep our TIF districts financially stable and on track,” Winooski Mayor Kristine Lott said.
The coalition has long called on the state to reform Act 250, which mayors argue creates a duplicative zoning process at the municipal and state levels.
Easing the zoning processes is particularly important as the economy starts to recover from the effects of the pandemic, Newport Mayor Paul Monette said.
“I think it’s especially critical during this economic recovery to make it easier and to streamline the entire process so we urge development to start up once again now that things are re-opening,” he said.
Montpelier Mayor Anne Watson said the mayors believe that the state should provide funding for escrow clinics, which would be a space for mediation between landlords and tenants during the eviction process instead of a court escrow hearing.
“At that point, a pool of money could be made available to help pay for rent, it could also go towards home improvements, which could help further stabilize the housing and improve the housing stock at the same time, and keep Vermonters in their homes,” she said.
Lott said the mayors were also in support of an alternative to the residential police academy.
“We know locally there are residents who would be interested in becoming police officers, but that they can’t attend a residential academy because they need to continue to get an income as they are taking care of family members,” she said.
Weinberger said that the virus has highlighted key issues facing cities.
“We believe there’s an opportunity through rapid action by our leaders in Montpelier to strengthen over the medium and long term our precious Vermont cities and downtowns,” he said.
The Legislature should remember the state’s downtowns when responding to the crisis, Weinberger said.
“We’re at a time where downtowns are in peril, where really the future of Vermont’s downtowns as we know them are in some existential threat,” he said.
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