§ 2472. Department of Housing and Community Development
(a) The Department of Housing and Community Development is created within the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. The Department shall:
(1) Be the central State agency to coordinate, consolidate, and operate, to the extent possible, all housing programs enacted hereafter by the General Assembly or created by executive order of the Governor.
(2) Be the central State agency for local and regional planning and coordination.
(3) Administer the Community Development Block Grant Program pursuant to 10 V.S.A. chapter 29. When awarding municipal planning grants prior to fiscal year 2012, the Department shall give priority to grants for downtowns, new town centers, growth centers, and Vermont neighborhoods.
(4) In partnership with the Division for Historic Preservation, direct, supervise, and administer the Vermont Downtown Program, and any other program designed to preserve the continued economic vitality of the State's traditional commercial districts.
(5) In conjunction with the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, annually publish data and information to enable the public to determine income levels and costs for owner-occupied and rental housing to qualify as affordable housing, as defined in 24 V.S.A. § 4303 and 10 V.S.A. § 6001(29), including:
(A) the median income for each Vermont county, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
(B) the standard metropolitan statistical area median income for each municipality located in such an area, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and
(C) the statewide median income, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(b) Neither the Vermont State Housing Authority or the Vermont Housing Finance Agency shall be considered part of the Department, but shall keep the Department advised of programs and activities being conducted. (Added 1969, No. 271 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. Jan. 10, 1971; amended 1991, No. 145 (Adj. Sess.), § 3 ; 1995, No. 46, § 25; 1995, No. 190 (Adj. Sess.), § 1(a); 2007, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), § 22a, eff. May 28, 2008; 2015, No. 51, § D.2; 2017, No. 69, § H.7, eff. June 28, 2017.)