Vermont Governor Phil Scott focused his weekly briefing on the state’s housing crisis and what he says is a need to rethink the approach that leaders are taking in trying to solve the problem.
On Tuesday, members of the Scott administration made a presentation to some members of the legislature on the state of the housing crisis and the type of action the administration believes must be taken to overcome the problem.
The Republican said it is not a new challenge and has been a top priority since he first became governor in 2017 and despite investing millions, mostly federal funds, the state is not building enough homes to meet needs.
“Our calculations show we need to increase the number of units we’re building by about three times what we’ve been doing statewide and even more than that in several counties,” Scott said. “Unfortunately at the present rate we won’t come close to this type of building even with record spending. What that tells us is this isn’t just about money so we must look at other solutions as well. I believe some of the chokepoint is the regulatory system that makes building or rehabbing the homes that Vermonters need too costly, too slow and therefore too limited and too unaffordable for homeowners and renters. So we need to make dramatic changes.”
Scott added that state leaders must rethink the current housing strategy because it isn’t working.
“What Vermonters can expect from us when the Legislature returns in January is a major regulatory, tax and incentive package that will reduce the obstacles government has created to build the housing we desperately need,” the governor said. “And we went to legislators to get this conversation started early. This session it’s time for us to come together to take on the regulatory and cost issues that have been growing for far too long because the reality is if we don’t, we won’t be able to reverse the demographic challenges we face. We can’t afford to mess this up. And we can’t afford to let politics or special interest groups get in the way.”
Department of Housing and Community Development Commissioner Alex Farrell outlined some of the details they anticipate will be in the package to legislators.
“What we're recommending for policy reforms is that we expedite permanent lasting solutions for the homeless population, for low- and moderate-income families, and for entry level families and expanding the workforce,” Farrell said. “A one size fits all approach is not going to work because this needs to be focused on a county-by-county basis.”
Commissioner Farrell said a cross agency team has been analyzing homelessness data, past housing studies, current and previous trends to draft the recommendations.
“From March 2020 through October of this year, we've invested nearly $400 million, an absolutely historic amount of funding, into unit generation through the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Vermont Housing and Finance Agency,” Farrell said. “Projects funded through these typical public funding channels are creeping up to an average per cost of almost $600,000 per unit. So at that rate, we can invest a billion dollars of public funding and still only produce about 2,000 units. That is not going to come close to meeting our need.”
Scott believes if more housing is available, it will also reduce homelessness while recruiting businesses and their employees to the state.
“If we build it they will come in terms of attracting more people into the state, more workers,” Scott said. “I think a vibrant economy will help the homeless and I think that we need to address this housing issue that we have and I believe that will reduce the demand for homeless housing because it'll lift the economy and inject the economy with the workers we need. So if we focus on housing in general, I think it'll help the homeless population as well in many different ways.”
