Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Acting Commissioner of Taxes Craig Bolio has released the statutorily required education tax rate letter which forecasts the education tax yields for resident homeowners and the nonhomestead tax rate (formerly called “nonresidential”) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2021.

Using statutorily prescribed calculations, the Agency of Education, Department of Taxes, Department of Finance and Management, and Joint Fiscal Office collaborate to establish the yields and rate.

The forecasted FY21 homestead property yield is $10,883 compared to $10,648 for FY20 (the current property tax year). The forecasted FY21 income yield is $13,396 compared to $13,081 for FY20 and impacts credit claims submitted in the spring of 2021. 

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) announced a $1.8 million settlement with Companion Life Insurance Company, of South Carolina, for selling unapproved and inadequate student health insurance policies to students at 10 Vermont higher education institutions. The penalty component of the settlement is the largest ever ordered by DFR against an insurance company. 

Vermont Business Magazine After serving as the Executive Director for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) for 14 years, Jane Campbell will be resigning her position to embark on the next chapter of her career. Campbell served as Executive Director of VBSR from 1992 - 2002, then returned to lead the organization in February of 2016 (during the period of 2002-2015, Campbell was the Executive Director of Copley Hospital Foundation and Development Director of the Vermont Historical Society). She will continue to work closely with the staff and Executive Committee of VBSR to plan for a smooth leadership transition.

Vermont Business Magazine As Vermonters participate in Giving Tuesday and share their generosity, they should be mindful of charity scams. With the increase in donation requests this time of year, consumers should take the time they need to research a charity before they generously give. The Vermont Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program can help Vermonters avoid common charity scams by offering tips to help consumers before they answer the phone, mail a check, or submit an online gift. 

“Giving Tuesday is a great day to give, but given the prevalence of scams I want Vermonters to make sure they don’t get ripped off,” said Attorney General Donovan. “If you get a call, letter, or email pressuring you to donate, make sure you are asking questions about how your donation will be used. When in doubt, contact the Consumer Assistance Program for more information.”

by Charlotte Albright/Dartmouth Traditionally, when students are tested on a subject, they use paper and pencil, or perhaps a computer, to demonstrate what they have learned. But what if brain scans could show them in the act of acquiring knowledge and then applying it to questions and problems? That's the question driving research being done by David Kraemer, assistant professor of education and a graduate adviser in psychological brain sciences, with his team of graduate and undergraduate students at the Dartmouth Cognitive Neuroscience of Learning Laboratory in the Department of Education. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Norwich University Department of Mathematics presents “Breaking the Secret ENIGMA Codes: The Real Story of the ‘Imitation Game’,” a presentation by Tom Perara, a retired professor of neuroscience who specialized in research on the coding of information in the human brain and nervous system, on Wednesday, December 4 at 7 pm in the Cabot Auditorium U085.

Public Assets Institute Since June the number of Vermonters looking for work has risen by nearly 470. At the same time, the number of people working has fallen for three straight months. Still, overall, joblessness has stayed extraordinarily low, reaching its lowest point on record—7,246 people—in June. The unemployment rate also has been setting records: only 2.1 percent from May through August, edging up to 2.2 percent in September and October, with Vermont’s rate the lowest in the country.

Vermont Business Magazine On August 1, 2020, the Point to Point, powered by VSECU, will attract hundreds of cyclers and runners to the Capital City. This will be the first year in Montpelier for this fundraising event, which has been held in Southern Vermont since 2002 in support of the Vermont Foodbank. The start and finish lines for Point to Point rides and runs, as well as the party featuring live music, family fun, food trucks, and beer from Harpoon Brewery, will be in front of the Vermont State House.

Vermont Research News In 2016, Vermont eliminated its personal belief exemption for the required vaccination of kindergartners. A recent study, which looks at the proportions of kindergartners with religious exemptions before and after 2016, finds that Vermont’s mean proportion of kindergartners with religious exemptions increased seven-fold after its elimination of personal belief exemptions. This data suggests that parents claim religious exemptions in the absence of a personal belief alternative.

Vermont Business Magazine Winter’s short days and long nights can be festive and busy and stressful and lonely all at the same time. With the first full day of winter officially on Sunday, December 22, it’s time to prepare for the changes that impact every one of us as well as our friends and family members. The shortest day and longest night of 2019 occurs on Saturday, December 21, the winter solstice, something we probably won’t even notice because there has been less and less sunlight each day since September.  

Community Health Behavioral Health Practice Leader Christopher Chadwick says there are many ways to manage the changes, and actually learn to enjoy the days of winter.

Vermont Business Magazine Over the past several years, Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) has trained hundreds of people to become licensed nursing assistants (LNAs). Many have gone on to rewarding careers in the health system’s skilled nursing facilities, in the hospital’s inpatient units, or in the Emergency Department.

Vermont Business Magazine Unless otherwise noted, all Green Mountain Care Board meetings are held in the Pavilion Auditorium at 109 State Street, Montpelier: December 6; December 11; December 17; and December 18.