Adam Greshin Joins Bill Sayre on Vermont State Budget
Wednesday, April 29, 2026, on Common Sense Radio, with Bill Sayre, weekdays, 11 o’clock till Noon.
Adam Greshin, Vermont Commissioner of Finance and Management, joins Bill to continue their discussion of the challenges of creating and managing the Vermont State Budget — with special emphasis on the process balancing priorities in spending Vermont’s limited funds.
Potential Questions and Issues
Remind us of the purpose of the Department of Finance and Management, and how you accomplish it. Is it fair to say that the State Budget reflects State public policy priorities? Help us understand the process by which the Governor’s Budget is constructed? It seems like the sum of all the Department requests, in the Fall of almost every year, totals $50 million to $150 million over expected revenues? If we believe that our tax bills are high enough, and therefore, no increase in tax revenue, what are the portions of the budget where gaps remain, and how do you believe these gaps best will be resolved?
What portion of the State Budget is financed by Federal Spending? Examples — Medicaid, Rural Hospitals, Education, Transportation, Natural Resources, Housing, Low Income Home Heating Assistance, other. How have tensions in the Federal Budget affected the Vermont Budget?
What other issues must be resolved in determining the State Budget? What should we know about the reforms underway in Education Finance and Governance? What are the sources of revenue for the Education Fund? Property Taxes, Sales Tax, and portions of the Rooms & Meals Tax, and of the Purchase and Use Tax, other? And often, there are transfers from the General Fund to subsidize Property Taxes. Do we anticipate such a transfer this year? Does the capacity to make such transfers depend on growth in the economy? Is this one example of why economic growth is important to sustaining the State Budget, as well as to families and businesses that comprise the economy?
What is the history in Vermont, of subsidizing Property Taxes by raising another tax, or by creating a new tax? Income Tax in ’34, Rooms & Meals Taxes in ’59, Sales Taxes in ’69, and many increases in those existing taxes in the last 70 years? Has the increase in taxes other than Property Taxes resulted in more than a temporary reduction in Property Taxes, or has the effect been to fuel education more than would otherwise have been the case.
What does the evidence show about School spending since the recreation of a Statewide Property Tax in 1997.
What other spending on education should we consider in evaluating the cost of education? Pension contributions; post retirement health insurance; Federal Transfers; Construction Costs; Bond payments.
Does your Department distribute education funds through the Foundation Formula, or is that the Education Department or another? What should we know about how the foundation formula is constructed? And how will it be applied? The three main categories of special weighting — English Language Learners; Low and Moderate Income; and Special Needs. Are there subcategories for weighting? How much difference in funding a particular district, can result from a particular weight being higher or lower? Who determines the weights, and how much discretion does the determiner have? Can a District influence the weights for their District, by providing information to those at the State who make the determination? Is one advantage to larger Districts that the weighting system is more stable, and more in the control of the District, than in the case of smaller Districts? Similarly, is the issue of School Choice easier to resolve with bigger Districts?
If Education Spending exceeds growth in the tax bases that fund education, the property taxes will rise. If District spending is more closely connected to District taxes, will those responsible for spending be more careful in controlling the growth in spending?
Does Vermont still have a global budget agreement with the Federal Government, that would allow the State more flexibility in how it uses Federal health care funds. Is there still a special provider tax that allows the State to get more medical funding from the Federal Government?
What is important to know about Vermont’s housing assistance spending? What changes are contemplated for aiding the homeless, and why? What is Section 8 Assistance, and how has it been affected by changes in the Federal program? What is the latest approach in the Budget in fostering affordable housing? What is the difference between affordable housing and housing affordability?
What were the most contentious issues and choices that had to be made as the Budget was being constructed last year, and how were they resolved? What is the Community Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP)? How is it similar and how different than the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program already in law? What was the gist of the controversy over how to provide temporary housing for the homeless? What do we know about the homeless population? How do we best transition the homeless to longer term housing? What is the cost of the various approaches to the homelessness?
How will the Education Reform legislation affect the Vermont Budget? What will be the challenges for managing the Budget — short term and long term? What are the sources of revenue for the Education Fund? What can we learn from this, about how best to predict and manage the Education Fund? Is it generally true that if Education spending exceeds the growth in family income and the Grand List, that property tax will grow even faster than education spending?
How will Tax Increment Financing affect the State Budget? Including Tax increment Financing under the CHIP proposal?
What are the different kinds of debt in the Budget, including contingent liabilities? What are moral obligation bonds?
Why is it important for our tax climate in Vermont to be competitive with that in other States? Why is it important for Vermont to live within its means? How does doing so help make Vermont more affordable for the Vermont families and businesses. How is the Vermont Budget affected by the pace of economic growth?
How do Vermont’s demographic trends affect, and how are they affected by, the Vermont Budget?
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