§ 4306. Municipal and Regional Planning Fund

(a)(1) The Municipal and Regional Planning Fund for the purpose of assisting municipal and regional planning commissions to carry out the intent of this chapter is hereby created in the State Treasury.

(2) The Fund shall be composed of 17 percent of the revenue from the property transfer tax under 32 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 231 and any monies from time to time appropriated to the Fund by the General Assembly or received from any other source, private or public. All balances at the end of any fiscal year shall be carried forward and remain in the Fund. Interest earned by the Fund shall be deposited in the Fund.

(3) Of the revenues in the Fund, each year:

(A) 10 percent shall be disbursed to the Vermont Center for Geographic Information;

(B) 70 percent shall be disbursed to the Secretary of Commerce and Community Development for performance contracts with regional planning commissions to provide regional planning services pursuant to section 4341a of this title; and

(C) 20 percent shall be disbursed to municipalities.

(b)(1) Allocations for performance contract funding to regional planning commissions shall be determined according to a formula to be adopted by rule under 3 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 25 by the Department for the assistance of the regional planning commissions. Disbursement of funding to regional planning commissions shall be predicated upon meeting performance goals and targets pursuant to the terms of the performance contract.

(2) Disbursement to municipalities shall be awarded annually on or before December 31 through a competitive program administered by the Department providing the opportunity for any eligible municipality or municipalities to compete regardless of size, provided that to receive funds, a municipality:

(A) shall be confirmed under section 4350 of this title; or

(B)(i) shall use the funds for the purpose of developing a municipal plan to be submitted for approval by the regional planning commission, as required for municipal confirmation under section 4350 of this title; and

(ii) shall have voted at an annual or special meeting to provide local funds for municipal and regional planning purposes.

(3) Of the annual disbursement to municipalities, an amount not to exceed 20 percent of the total may be disbursed to the Department to administer a program providing direct technical consulting assistance under retainer on a rolling basis to any eligible municipality to meet the requirements for designated neighborhood development area under chapter 76A of this title, provided that the municipality is eligible for funding under subdivision (2) and meets funding guidelines established by the Department to ensure accessibility for lower capacity communities, municipal readiness, and statewide coverage.

(4) Of the annual disbursement to municipalities, the Department may allocate funding as bylaw modernization grants under 4307.

(c) Funds allocated to municipalities shall be used for the purposes of:

(1) funding the regional planning commission in undertaking capacity studies;

(2) carrying out the provisions of subchapters 5 through 10 of this chapter;

(3) acquiring development rights, conservation easements, or title to those lands, areas, and strictures identified in either regional or municipal plans as requiring special consideration for provision of needed housing, aquifer protection, open space, farmland preservation, or other conservation purposes; and

(4) reasonable and necessary costs of administering the Fund by the Department of Housing and Community Development, not to exceed six percent of the municipality allocation. (Added 1987, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; amended 1997, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 41; 1999, No. 1, § 97b, eff. March 31, 1999; 1999, No. 49, § 80; 1999, No. 62, § 263; 1999, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 271d; 2003, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 84; 2003, No. 164 (Adj. Sess.), § 14, eff. June 12, 2004; 2005, No. 178 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 9, 13; 2009, No. 146 (Adj. Sess.), § G4; 2015, No. 11, § 29; 2021, No. 182 (Adj. Sess.), § 26, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 47, § 14, eff. July 1, 2023.)