Current News

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org A report released on Friday proposes three changes to Vermont’s property tax system. The changes include: a “renovation” plan that would lead to reductions in school spending; a “variable income tax” proposal that would replace a portion of the property tax revenues with income taxes; and a regional block grant plan that would replace Act 60/68.

The report was authored by an ad hoc group of lawmakers and former state officials. House Speaker Shap Smith called together the Education Working Group in September and the 10-member panel has met every two weeks since then.

Education finance reform is a high priority for the speaker this year.

Jim Merriam announced today that Liz Gamache will succeed him as Director of Efficiency Vermont beginning January 19, 2015. Efficiency Vermont is a nationally acclaimed statewide energy efficiency utility, which currently helps meet more than 13 percent of Vermont’s electric supply needs, and has helped reduce heating costs in more than 4,500 homes since 2008.

“I am thrilled to bring Liz on board as the next Director of Efficiency Vermont,” said Merriam. “She has a solid track record in the utility industry, a deep history of public service in her community, and an innate understanding of how to deliver exceptional service and value to Vermonters. I cannot think of a more gifted and qualified candidate to set the course for Efficiency Vermont as it helps Vermonters lower their energy costs and continues to raise the bar on Vermont’s national energy efficiency leadership.”

Governor Shumlin announced Friday that $814,000 from Round 1 of the Windham County Economic Development Program will be allocated to five projects. A small amount will be dedicated to legal costs and technical assistance to applicants and the remainder of the $2 million from this round will roll over to the next round in 2015 and the program will be redesigned to attract more business applications for loans and grant applications that meet specific entrepreneurial economic development objectives.

“I am allocating funds to a limited number of projects that promise job creation and investment in Windham County,” said Governor Shumlin. “The rest of the funding will roll over to the next round and I’ve asked Commerce Secretary Pat Moulton to redesign the application and allocation process.”

New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) of Williston has announced its acquisition of Health One Credit Union, a financial institution serving communities in Michigan and Ohio. The acquisition, which was finalized on December 12, makes Health One a division of NEFCU and adds more than 3,000 members and $15 million in assets to Vermont’s largest Credit Union.

NEFCU is one of the state’s leading financial institutions, with more than 91,000 members and over $1 billion in assets. The acquisition of Health One is part of NEFCU’s strategy to expand into new markets that provide opportunities for future growth.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org Entergy will draw from a $143 million line of credit to pay for the cost of transferring spent nuclear fuel at Vermont Yankee into temporary storage. Previously, the company had insisted on tapping decommissioning funds. The decision to borrow money for the transfer expenses means the facility could be decommissioned decades sooner than anticipated.

Entergy, the Louisiana-based operator of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, expects to stop generating power on or about December 29. The company will then begin moving spent nuclear fuel from the reactor into a cooling pool.

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation issued a water quality certification Thursday regarding the future operations of Green Mountain Power’s Waterbury Hydroelectric Project. Under this decision, the Waterbury Reservoir will be maintained at the current summertime level year-round, and flows will be managed to more closely mirror the natural flow of the Little River. The Department’s water quality certification ensures that dam operations are conducted in a manner that protects fishing, swimming, boating and other recreational uses of both the Waterbury Reservoir and Little River. The decision also ensures that the dam will continue to serve its primary purpose of flood control.

This holiday season marks the 115th annual Christmas Bird Count, a favorite tradition among Vermont’s birding community. Birders in Vermont are encouraged to participate in the count, which begins on December 14 and runs through January 5. SEE LIST OF EVENTS BELOW

Vermonters with an interest in bird-watching, from avid birders to newbies, are invited to take part in the annual Christmas Bird Count, which is happening in Vermont from December 14 to January 5. Courtesy of Fish & Wildlife

This year birders will be on the lookout for snowy owls which are once again arriving from the north, along with a few rare ducks and songbirds.

Vermont Business Magazine This storm has caused more outages from Green Mountain Power than either the ice storm of 1998 or Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. As of Monday morning, total customers without power across the state were down to about 2,500. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” That’s what GMP lineworkers are reporting from the frontlines of the winter storm, which began Tuesday night and ravaged nearly every corner of Vermont through Friday. Wet, heavy snow clings to branches and power lines, and with each passing hour and day the likelihood of a tree breaking and a resulting outage increases. As quickly as crews can make repairs, new outages continue to occur. Until temperatures increase and the sun shines to help melt the snow, this pattern will continue.

SEE LIST OF OUTAGES AND LINKS TO UTILITIES BELOW.

Vermont Business Magazine New weekly unemployment claims in Vermont fell by over 300 claims last week after a steep spike the week before. Claims had been very low during the summer, trending under 500, but have been high since early October. Levels this year had been running consistently lower than those of last year, but are now nearly the same. For the week of Deember 6, 2014, there were 1,070 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is a decrease of 358 from the previous week's total, and 5 more than they were a year ago.

According to Mathew Barewicz, Economic & Labor Market Information Chief at the Vermont Department of Labor, the cause of the recent increase was predominately the result of "a seasonal transition."

Two Central Vermont projects have received design excellence awards from the Vermont Chapter of American Institute of Architects. The projects, designed by gbA (Gossens Bachman Architects) of Montpelier, were awarded at AIAVT's annual meeting at the Statehouse on December 4, 2014. The first was award for the Capstone Community Action office. This community development corporation provides a number of programs and services for low to moderate income Vermonters. The non-profit consolidated its services that had been scattered throughout Vermont. The new 23,650-square-foot facility (12,350 new; 11,300 renovated) located in Barre, was designed to promote collaboration and interaction and had many sustainable features. The General Contractor, EF Wall & Associates, Inc. also received the AGCVT Best Builders Award for this project in 2013.

In the wake of recent data breaches, shoppers should be on high alert while purchasing their presents this holiday season.

“While millions of credit and debit card transactions are conducted safely every day, it’s important that consumers are aware of the potential for holiday scams,” said David Silverman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank.

Union Bank offers the following tips to help consumers keep their information safe whether shopping in the store or online:

· Monitor your account. Use online and mobile banking to keep an eye on your transactions, especially during the holidays. If you don’t use these electronic tools, at least diligently review your bank statement. Either way, notify the bank right away if there’s any fraudulent activity.