Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Taxes reminds taxpayers that the deadline to file Vermont personal income tax returns is Tuesday, April 18. The April 18 deadline also applies to homestead declarations, property tax adjustment claims, renter rebate claims, and applications for the extension of time to file a personal income tax return.

Taxpayers who are not ready to file their Vermont returns may request an extension using Form IN-151 or online, but they must file extension requests by April 18. This extends the due date six months to Oct. 16, 2017. Requesting an extension does not extend the period to pay tax. Taxpayers must submit tax owed by April 18 to avoid penalty and interest for late payment.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan urges Vermont residents to file claims on a $125 million multistate settlement that provides $35 million to consumers who paid for the brand-name drug Provigil or generic modafinil from June 24, 2006, to March 31, 2012.At the States’ request, the court extended the time to file claims on the settlement to June 25, 2017.

Vermont Business MagazineFairPoint Communications announced today the completion of broadband expansion projects in 25 Vermont towns that extend and enhance FairPoint’s approximately 18,000 mile fiber optic network, which is the largest, fully-owned and managed fiber-based network in northern New England. As a result of these completed projects, improved broadband speeds are available to more than 4,500 locations throughout Vermont. In Williston, more than 375 locations have been impacted – providing broadband service to some locations for first time.

US District Court, Southern District of FloridaThis Settlement Agreement and Release (the “Agreement”) is entered into by and among Michael I. Goldberg, in his capacity as receiver (the “Receiver”) for the entities identified on Schedule A to this Agreement (collectively, the “Receivership Entities”), Thomas A. Tucker Ronzetti, Harley S. Tropin, and Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, LLP, as interim class counsel (“Class Counsel”) on behalf of the plaintiffs in the Investor Class Action (as defined below), and Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (“Raymond James”). (The Receiver, Class Counsel, and Raymond James shall each be referred to as a “Party” and shall collectively be referred to as the “Parties.”)

Vermont Business MagazineAll the creditors, immigrant investors, contractors and vendors who were caught up in the massive fraud in the Jay Peak EB-5 case will be made whole "100 cents on every dollar they were owed."Governor Phil Scott, Vermont Department of Financial Regulation Commissioner Michael Pieciak and Jay Peak Receiver Michael Goldberg this evening announced a $150 million settlement agreement with financial firm Raymond James Financial, Inc, over its role in the alleged fraud relating to EB-5 projects in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

Vermont Business MagazineEvolving small businesses and start-ups in the Northeast Kingdom may now access new sources of business loan funds. The loans will be made from self-replenishing pools of money from the Town of Jay, where new loans are capitalized by the interest and principal payments from existing loans. Backing will be directed to small entrepreneurs who otherwise may not qualify for traditional financing due to lack of credit or collateral.

The Town of Jay has assigned the loan funds to Community Capital of Vermont (CCVT) and the Northeastern Vermont Development Association (NVDA), in consultation with the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development. The funds will be distributed by CCVT and NVDA, and a partnership with Top of Vermont, the Jay Peak Region’s chamber of commerce, will help with marketing the funds.

by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine William Ernest McKibben, 56, sits in the eye of the hurricane of climate change, trying to save the world from the danger in which it finds itself. You’d think that after the recent presidential election, where climate change deniers took over the levers of power, this renowned environmentalist, lecturer, author, journalist, the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, Ripton resident, cross-country skier and co-founder of the climate change organization 350.org, would be hiding in bed with his head covered by quilts. Or at the very least, he would have lost his sense of humor.

by John McClaughry Act 250, Vermont’s landmark land use and environmental control act of 1970, is coming up on its 50^th anniversary, and the people who promoted it then have a lot more of the same in store for us. The organization that went all out to pass Act 250 is the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC). Its present leadership is urging the passage of a bill to create a “Commission on Act 250: The Next 50 Years” (H.424). It passed the House on March 31 without any recorded vote.

Vermont Business MagazineVermont Fish & Wildlife Department recently added nearly 3,000 acres to Bird Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Ira and Poultney, bringing the total publicly-conserved area to more than 3,600 acres. This is the largest addition to a Vermont wildlife management area in more than a decade.The wildlife management area includes the iconic Bird's Eye Mountain, a well-known nesting site and habitat for peregrine falcons, as well as the surrounding lands.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s US Senators Patrick Leahy (D) and Bernie Sanders (I) have joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and others in announcing that they will reintroduce the Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2017 to simplify and decrease the costs of the tax filing process for millions of American taxpayers. This year taxpayers will spend an average of 13 hours preparing and filing their returns, and will pay $200 for tax preparation services -- a cost equal to almost 10 percent of the average federal tax refund.

Vermont Business Magazine As part of its ongoing commitment to give consumers the confidence and tools they need to be fiscally healthy, Citizens Bank announced Tuesday that two nonprofit organizations in Vermont – Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity and Champlain Housing Trust – will receive $5,000 each as part of theCitizens Helping Citizens Manage Moneyfinancial literacy initiative.

Vermont Business Magazine USDA Rural Development will help rural, low-income homeowners repair or improve their homes this spring through the Single Family Housing Repair Program. This program offers loans that can be repaid over 20 years with a fixed one percent interest rate for home improvement projects that repair existing damages, remove health or safety hazards, or make energy efficiency investments. Very-low income seniors aging in place can seek a $7,500 grant to help remove health and safety hazards and increase the accessibility of their homes.