The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Title 24 : Municipal and County Government
Chapter 053 : Indebtedness
Subchapter 007 : COMMUNITY AND HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM
(Cite as: 24 V.S.A. § 1906)-
§ 1906. Definitions
As used in this subchapter:
(1) “Affordable housing” has the same meaning as in section 4303 of this title.
(2) “Affordable housing development” means a housing development of which at least 15 percent of the units are affordable housing units. Affordable units shall be subject to covenants or restrictions that preserve their affordability until all indebtedness for the housing infrastructure project of which the housing development is part has been retired.
(3) “Brownfield” means a property on which the presence or potential presence of a hazardous material, pollutant, or contaminant complicates the expansion, development, redevelopment, or reuse of the property.
(4) “Committed” means pledged and appropriated for the purpose of the current and future payment of financing and related costs.
(5) “Developer” means the person undertaking to construct a housing development.
(6) “Financing” means debt, including principal, interest, and any fees or charges directly related to that debt, incurred by a sponsor, or other instruments or borrowing used by a sponsor, to pay for a housing infrastructure project and, in the case of a sponsor that is a municipality, authorized by the municipality pursuant to section 1910a of this subchapter.
(7) “Housing development” means the construction, rehabilitation, or renovation of any building on a housing development site approved under this subchapter.
(8) “Housing development site” means the parcel or parcels encompassing a housing development as authorized by a municipality pursuant to section 1908 of this subchapter.
(9) “Housing infrastructure agreement” means a legally binding agreement to finance and develop a housing infrastructure project and to construct a housing development among a municipality, a developer, and, if applicable, a third-party sponsor.
(10) “Housing infrastructure project” means one or more improvements authorized by a municipality pursuant to section 1908 of this subchapter.
(11) “Improvements” means:
(A) the installation, construction, or reconstruction of infrastructure that will serve a public good and fulfill the purpose stated in section 1907 of this subchapter; and
(B) the funding of debt service interest payments for a period of up to four years, beginning on the date on which the debt is first incurred.
(12) “Legislative body” means the mayor and alderboard, the city council, the selectboard, and the president and trustees of an incorporated village, as appropriate.
(13) “Lifetime education property tax increment retention” means the total education property tax increment to be retained for a housing infrastructure project across its lifetime.
(14) “Moderate-income housing” means housing for which the total annual cost of renting or ownership, as applicable, does not exceed 30 percent of the gross annual income of a household at 150 percent of the highest of the following:
(A) the county median income, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
(B) the standard metropolitan statistical area median income if the municipality is located in such an area, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; or
(C) the statewide median income, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(15) “Moderate-income housing development” means a housing development of which at least 25 percent of the units are moderate-income housing units. Moderate-income units shall be subject to covenants or restrictions that preserve their affordability until all indebtedness for the housing infrastructure project of which the housing development is part has been retired.
(16) “Municipality” means a city, town, or incorporated village.
(17) “Original taxable value” means the total valuation as determined in accordance with 32 V.S.A. chapter 129 of all taxable real property located within a housing development site as of its creation date, provided that no parcel within the housing development site shall be divided or bisected.
(18) “Related costs” means expenses incurred and paid by a municipality, exclusive of the actual cost of constructing and financing improvements, that are directly related to the creation and implementation of the municipality’s housing infrastructure project, including reimbursement of sums previously advanced by the municipality for those purposes. Related costs may include direct municipal expenses such as departmental or personnel costs related to creating or administering the housing infrastructure project to the extent they are paid from the tax increment realized from municipal and not education taxes and using only that portion of the municipal increment above the percentage required for servicing debt as determined in accordance with section 1910c of this subchapter.
(19) “Sponsor” means the person undertaking to finance a housing infrastructure project. Any of a municipality, a developer, or an independent agency that meets State lending standards may serve as a sponsor for a housing infrastructure project. (Added 2025, No. 69, § 20, eff. July 1, 2025.)
