Current News

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business MagazineCarbon tax legislation isn’t dead, it’s just being reborn in a different form with a different incentive. Vermont Representative and South Burlington School Board Member Martin LaLonde announced a property tax reform and climate action proposal today at the headquarters of Ben & Jerry’s. While exact details of the bill will have to be constructed in committee, LaLonde’s legislation basically would charge some sort of fee on fossil fuel distributors and use the proceeds to reduce property taxes.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont legislators today proposed four tax reforms that they said would: Create jobs and strengthen the Vermont economy; prioritize low- and middle-income Vermonters; and reduce the carbon pollution causing global warming. The bills include proposals to lower the property tax and even eliminate the statewide sales tax.

Vermont Business Magazine TODAY, Monday, April 10, 2017, Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) will kick off a two week statewide tour to hear from Vermonters about the impact of President Trump’s budget on their lives and communities. Throughout the tour, he will hold press conferences, convene roundtables, and conduct a town hall-style meeting.

MONDAY, April 10, 2017

11:15am Press conference on the impact of Head Start budget cuts

Sara Holbrook Community Center

66 North Avenue, Burlington

TUESDAY, April 11, 2017

12:00pm Press conference on the impact of safety net budget cuts

Northwest Family Foods

5 Lemnah Drive, St. Albans

Annual list with Entrepreneur magazine focused on best places to live and work

Vermont Business Magazine Livability.com has released its second annual Best Cities for Entrepreneurs list created in partnership with Entrepreneur magazine. Burlington ranked Number 12 on the list, with Alexandria, VA, topping the list. The new rankings combined Livability’s economic development experts and data scientists, who worked in tandem to rank small to mid-size cities across the US on what makes the best places for entrepreneurs to start a business and find quality of life.

by Mike Smith This will be my last column for the Rutland Herald and Times Argus. I am not giving up on writing a weekly column, just changing venues, but this column is neither the time nor the place to talk about that. Instead, I want to write about how grateful I am to those that gave me the opportunity to write for two newspapers that are rich in tradition and talent. Also, I want to express my thanks to the readers of my column.

Vermont Business MagazineVermont has the fifth highest effective property tax rate in the nation, according to a national survey.ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation's largest fused property database, has released a 2016 property tax analysis for more than 84 million USsingle family homes, which shows that property taxes levied on single family homes in 2016 totaled$277.7 billion, an average of$3,296per home and an effective tax rate of 1.15 percent. Vermont(2.02 percent)and New Hampshire(2.03 percent)had rates that were nearly double.

Leonine Public AffairsIf there was any doubt the 2017 legislative session is getting close to adjournment, those doubts were put to rest by the end of the week. The committees attempted to deal with bills quickly so any unforeseen contentiousness could be handled in the next two weeks. It appears the session will likely adjourn byMay 6thleaving only a few weeks to get agreement between the House and Senate on a number of policy issues.

by Bill Schubart The Legislature is at an impasse trying to decide whether to establish and adequately fund a statewide ethics commission that has real enforcement capability. There’s been considerable favorable testimony by Vermonters, ethicists and our secretary of state, Jim Condos, who has been a relentless champion of government transparency, inclusion and establishing such a commission. Each time VTDigger runs a story on ethics legislative testimony or ethical lapses by state officials, comments from Vermonters run almost universally in favor of establishing such a commission.

Legislative arguments against it are unconvincing:

• In this year of budget constraints, we can’t afford another government bureaucracy ($330,000 of $3.5 billion); (less than 1/100th of a percent)

• Financial disclosure of possible conflicts will discourage Vermonters from government service;

• We’re all good people and we all know each other;

by Rebecca Holcombe, Secretary of Education When the towns of Bethel, Rochester and Royalton started to talk about how to move forward under Act 46, one of the first things they did was ask students what they wanted for their high school experience. The answer was loud and clear: more peers, greater depth and breadth of academic opportunities, and more extracurricular activities. Community members wanted the same, but they also worried about affordability.

Vermont Business MagazineNew results from a 15-year study on Mount Mansfield and at the University of Vermont's research forest come to a surprising conclusion: Imitating old-growth forests enhances carbon storage in managed forestland far better than conventional forestry techniques. As the planet warms, carbon markets are getting hot too. Forest landowners have been looking for ways to enter these markets, making money from their commercial timberland not just by selling logs—but also by demonstrating that their land is absorbing climate-warming carbon dioxide from the air.

by C.B. Hall Vermont Business Magazine AllEarth Rail, an affiliate of Williston-based solar manufacturer AllEarth Renewables, has announced its purchase of 12 vintage rail coaches to be used in launching a commuter rail service in northwestern Vermont. AllEarth Rail president David Blittersdorf, who is also CEO of AllEarth Renewables, said that Texas's Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) had awarded AllEarth Rail a contract for purchase of the cars after it won a bid for the equipment over three other parties.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) joined a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos led by Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and sent by a total of 36 senators. The letter expresses concern over announcements that borrowers may not be able to rely on notices they have previously received about their eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).