A path towards solving Vermont’s housing crisis.
by J.T. Dodge
In Island Pond, where I grew up, every dollar mattered. My mother, tirelessly working in a local factory, epitomized hard work for meager pay. This, alongside our family’s disciplined approach to budgeting, instilled in me a respect for living within our means. Today, my wife and I also live by values of careful financial prudence, as this is the road to resiliency when challenges strike. Shouldn’t the state be just as careful and just as cautious?
Today, our state stands at a crossroads, facing a dire need for more homes to improve living conditions and enhance affordability for all. I support a bold step forward: Cutting through the cumbersome red tape of Act 250 to facilitate the construction of new homes. Over the years, this well-intentioned law has become entangled in complexity and cost, hindering our collective ability to meet the housing needs of our community. The Environmental Mediation Center’s comprehensive report on Act 250 underscores these challenges and champions the imperative for reform.
Let’s dare to dream of a future where Caledonia District thrives, buoyed by sufficient housing for all who desire to put down roots here—from the eager first-time homebuyer to the apartment dweller yearning for a house. By freeing up apartments, we release the pressure from the pot, invigorating our entire state, making strides toward greater affordability and taking decisive action against homelessness.
The most important action we can take, it’s to become informed on the issues and vote. Talk to your neighbors that don’t vote and encourage them to become informed. You won’t regret it.
I’ll be running for office, perhaps you will consider doing the same.
J.T. Dodge (R) is a former 2022 State Senate candidate for Caledonia County.
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Categories: Opinion
At least in most townships in Caledonia county. Our housing issues are caused by non-residents. Nothing more. We have plenty of housing in fact in my Township we are sitting at 60% vacancy (non resident) it’s time these owners pay their fair share as we are paying a higher tax rate than they do.
Non-residents pay more & use LESS services. Their tax rate is HIGHER, not lower. Try your Department of Taxes for tax rates.
Jealousy doesn’t suit you. Americans have the RIGHT to purchase second homes and so in every. single. state. in the Union.
Want everyone to live identically? Try Communist China.
i want proof you are paying higher taxes than non residents//// the tax rate should be the same or higher for non residents///
The Homestead Declaration which Vermont residents use to reduce their tax rate is lower than a second home isn’t it?
“A Path Towards Making Plenty of More Room For Illegal Immigrants and Drug Dealers.”
There, I fixed the headline for you.
Want money to purchase a home? Try NOT doing drugs, staying in school to begin an occupation or learning a trade for starters, being responsible, minding the law, & waiting to begin a family once married & financially stable.
Can’t “find” a home? Try: http://www.realtor.com Voila! Homes in VT from $100,000 to over a million. Just. Like. Every. Other. State. Learn coping mechanisms.
TO Kathleen J Gaffney; In our Township as many in Caledonia county. Education tax rates are higher for residents (homestead ) than other.
I don’t set the rules I am just observing.
I can tell you from long experience in this area.
Non residence use the bulk of police/emergency resources in our township and tend to cause many more issues than residents.
Again just the facts.
Also housing prices will be falling soon. This bubble is popping, people just haven’t figured it out yet.
Homes for sale have tripled since this time last year. And lots of price reductions.
I expect to see prices back to 2017 levels before too long.
So there, the problem will solve itself.
To: Red:
Please provide a link to show that in your specific county within the state of VT, the state uses a disparate tax code for non-residents than is used throughout the rest of the state. Please use VT Department of Taxes for your source. Without a “Homestead” on file, school tax rates are HIGHER – NOT lower.
Insofar as police/emergency calls, please provide a link that shows higher calls to “non-residents” as opposed to “residents” despite the fact that there is absolutely no different response code to stipulate between the two for first responders. An emergency call is an emergency call.
Your estimation that home sales have “tripled” in one year is a complete fallacy. Again, please provide a link to Real Estate data & statistics through any local Realty company, transfer tax records, property/data records or other verifiable means to document this claim.
Lastly, Real Estate property values ALWAYS fluctuate. The market inflates, is sometimes depressed, but has, in the vast majority of areas within the USA – always been increasing over the course of time. Again, this is WHY Real Estate is considered an “investment” by many.
There is NO “problem”. This is called: life. If you want to better contribute to your personal estimation of prices being too “high”, simply place your own home on the open market for sale at a fraction of its current fair market value and sell it. If it’s worth $250,000 – sell it for $80,000 or even less. There. YOU will have helped solve your self-proclaimed “problem”.
Tourism & the second home market has generated billions of dollars for Vermont over decades. The State of Vermont promotes tourism & operates a tourism division.
Americans are a FREE people able to invest their capital wherever they see fit whether you particularly resent it or not. There are other locales though that you can choose to live in should you so dislike capitalism, & Communist China is but merely one of them.
what caused the real estate bubble/// the federal reserve zero interest rates//// they destroyed peoples savings accounts/// they made borrowing cheap and people paid higher prices for housing//// they also drove up the value of existing houses because of existing sales in that location/// this is not
capitalism/// this is total price fixing/// some people have too much elitism mind set/// start addressing the the federal reserve money printing operation///
People made bad choices and over extended themselves. They did not look at the ROI. They fell for real estate brokers promises and the Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac deliberate fraud. That is America, make your own choices and best be informed when you do so!
This argument for “affordable” housing has been tried & failed miserably since the mid twentieth century in the cities & suburbs across this country.
My own parents bought a home on L.I., NY in 1966 for $11,000.
Today it would sell in the $500,000 range – it would sell for more, but the neighborhood isn’t too hot, thanks in part, to said subsidized apartment complexes & “affordable” housing in the immediate area, and the accompanying crime & drugs that typically go hand-in-hand with such development. Think: Decker Apartments in Burlington.
The year is no longer 1966. Gasoline isn’t 32 cents per gallon. An average new auto doesn’t cost $2,000, and home prices have risen in kind. Until someone invents a working time machine, time marches on.
Stop the nonsense with this obsession over “affordable” housing. Individuals will “afford” their home when their financial situation allows. Kinda like the way it’s always been for the last 200 plus years in America.
Voters are dumb and lazy (or people that work for government) – Everyone who runs for office just make your name familiar and put a D next to it if the people in your area are voting D.
i bout a small parcel of land under one acre twenty years ago for five thousand dollars//// this land is now appraised for about twenty thousand dollars/// there have been no capital investment since i bought it/// like magic we have fifteen thousand dollars more//// the federal reserve//// inflation/// con artist interest rates/// it is time to address the real problem///
correction /// bought