The delegation announced 90. The state’s own count is 98 — and Vermont taxpayers are covering about $9.2 million of the cost.

by Compass Vermont

At the bottom of this story: how to find out whether your town is on the buyout list, what a buyout offer is actually based on, and who to call if you’re still waiting.

Ninety-eight Vermont properties have been awarded federal flood buyouts since August 27, and nearly a quarter of them — 23 — are in Plainfield, a town of 1,236 people.

That count comes from Vermont Emergency Management, which provided Compass with a town-by-town breakdown in written answers this week. Vermont’s congressional delegation announced the funding on September 14 as “at least 90” homes. The state’s current records put it at 98, and Vermont Emergency Management says the number moves as new FEMA awards arrive.

Here is where the 98 properties are:

• Plainfield — 23
• Starksboro — 13
• Huntington — 11
• Richmond — 9
• St. Johnsbury — 7
• Groton — 5
• Hardwick — 4
• Waterbury, Woodstock — 3 each
• Barre, Ludlow, Lyndon, Springfield — 2 each
• Barre Town, Bolton, Brighton, Coventry, Hinesburg, Holland, Johnson, Lunenburg, Marshfield, Randolph, Wardsboro, Worcester — 1 each

The awards trace back to four federally declared disasters — the summer 2023 floods, the January 2024 floods, the summer 2024 floods and the August 2024 flood — plus 11 properties funded through a separate FEMA program called Swift Current, which pays for buyouts of homes that flood repeatedly and carry federal flood insurance.

Plainfield carries the load

Twenty-three buyouts in one small Washington County town is the largest concentration in the state, and it is roughly one in four of every buyout award Vermont has received in the past three weeks. Plainfield lost a Mill Street bridge over the Great Brook in the July 2024 flood, along with several apartments, a year after the July 2023 flood hit the same village.

Every one of those 23 properties will be demolished. The land goes to the town under a federal deed restriction that bars new structures on it permanently — not for ten years, not until the town changes its mind. Permanently.

The announcement described about a third of the program

Vermont Emergency Management told Compass it has now awarded 260 buyout properties cumulatively, including the 98 received since August 27. Seventeen owners who were awarded a buyout have since withdrawn. Three more buyouts are awaiting award.

So the $33.2 million the delegation announced this week is the most recent batch of a program that has been running since the 2023 flood, not the program itself.

What the money is, and whose it is

The $27.6 million for buyouts is the federal share, not the full cost. Vermont Emergency Management confirmed that the corresponding total project cost is about $36.8 million, with roughly $9.2 million in non-federal match — and that the state is covering that match, so towns pay nothing. Governor Phil Scott’s budget put $12.5 million toward the local match in 2024 for exactly this purpose.

Neither the delegation’s announcement nor the coverage of it mentioned the state’s share. About a quarter of the cost of these buyouts is Vermont money.

The other $5.6 million in the announcement is not buyout money at all. Vermont Emergency Management broke it into $4,878,659.31 in FEMA management costs — the administrative cost of running the mitigation programs — and $731,775 for local hazard mitigation plans, which goes to towns to write their own flood-risk plans. That means about 15 cents of every dollar in the $33.2 million headline pays for administration rather than reaching a property owner.

Spread across 98 properties, the $36.8 million works out to roughly $375,000 per property. That is not the check a homeowner gets. The award budget also covers appraisal, legal and closing work, demolition, and grading and seeding the empty lot afterward.

What a homeowner actually receives

Once a property is awarded, the state assigns a professional appraisal firm. For most properties, Vermont Emergency Management says, the value used is the property’s pre-event value — what it was worth before the flood, not after.

Then the offer can shrink. The state runs what it calls a duplication-of-benefits review, checking whether the owner already received disaster help from local, state or federal sources for the same loss. Prior flood insurance payments, Increased Cost of Compliance payments, Small Business Administration assistance and other disaster aid can all be deducted from the final offer, depending on what the money was used for.

The plain version: the appraised number is the starting point, not the payout.

Who owns the land afterward

The delegation’s announcement said the state would demolish the structures. Vermont Emergency Management gives a more specific answer: the municipality takes title to the property, subject to the federal deed restrictions and the perpetual open-space requirement. The state manages the acquisition and contracts the demolition work.

That distinction matters to the towns on the list. The property comes off the grand list and stays off it. In Plainfield’s case, 23 times.

Money still will not arrive tomorrow. Appraisals, legal work and closings all come after the award.

If You’re in a Buyout Town

Is my town on the list? The 25 towns with new awards are listed above. Buyout applications are filed by the municipality, not by the homeowner — your selectboard or town office is the first stop, not FEMA.

Where do I check my status? Vermont Emergency Management’s hazard mitigation program: dps.hazardmitigation@vermont.gov, or VEM at 1-800-347-0488.

What will my offer be based on? For most properties, the pre-flood appraised value, minus any disaster assistance you already received for the same property — flood insurance, Increased Cost of Compliance, SBA loans, prior FEMA aid.

What happens to the land? The town takes title, the structure is demolished, and the lot must stay open space permanently under federal deed restriction.

I was awarded a buyout and want out. Seventeen owners statewide have withdrawn after being awarded. Withdrawal is possible; contact VEM’s hazard mitigation program.

More coming? Vermont Emergency Management says three additional buyouts are awaiting award, and that new FEMA awards continue to arrive.