House caucus: H.687 incorporates major housing programs, flood‑disclosure changes and property‑tax adjustments

During the May 7 caucus, Representative Stevens (General & Housing committee) and Representative Kornheiser (Ways & Means) outlined how housing and fiscal measures were incorporated into H.687.

Stevens described two major housing bills folded into H.687 (H.639 and H.829). He said H.639 included flood‑risk disclosure provisions for real property and mobile homes and asked that disclosures include 100‑year and 500‑year flood zones and whether the property had been flooded while owned by the seller. The committee intends to substitute language to restore broader disclosure criteria that the House had previously passed.

Stevens outlined housing programs integrated into the bill: modifications to the Vermont Home Improvement Program (VHIP) to prioritize accessibility and persons experiencing homelessness, changes to 5‑ and 10‑year forgivable loan programs, establishment of a resident services program (policy included but not funded this year), and a proposed $1,000,000 appropriation to support the land access and opportunity board. He said a $1,000,000 DHCD appropriation is proposed for mobile‑home repair and that funding for a first‑generation homebuyer program would be restored. Stevens also described returning an upstream eviction‑prevention package (roughly $3.9 million total, including back‑rent and legal representation pilots) as part of the bill’s funding plan.

Kornheiser summarized Ways & Means changes, saying the committee substituted the House property‑transfer‑tax (PTT) structure from H.829 for the Senate’s second‑home construct because administration and definition issues could inadvertently affect multiple property types. Under the House model the PTT would lower rates for typical home purchases below $750,000 and increase rates on transfers above that threshold; Kornheiser noted some minor clean‑water surcharge and conforming allocation changes to keep usual funds whole and increase the Vermont Housing & Conservation Trust Fund allocation. Ways & Means also included two limited PTT exemptions (abandoned property rehabilitation transfers and new Energy Star‑rated mobile homes) and removed a Senate proposal for a 3‑year property‑value freeze because of concerns about education fund revenue.

Kornheiser reported a favorable straw poll result in committee and said the Senate fiscal note was posted the same day; a formal combined fiscal memo on all committee amendments will follow.

Next steps: reporters said committee technical work continues, the amendment version is posted (4.1 referenced), and members were encouraged to raise follow‑up questions with committee leads before floor action.