Vermont Faces $98 Million Shortfall From Irene Damage

Vermont Faces $98 Million Shortfall From Irene Damage


“How the state chooses to deal with this financial nightmare remains to be seen, but one thing is certain - the effects will be felt for decades to come.”


By Dell Hill

“The State of Vermont has released new estimates on the cost of damages from Tropical Storm Irene and how much of it will have to be paid for by Vermont taxpayers.

Officials now believe the flood waters from Irene caused up to 572-million dollars in damage to state and local roads, bridges and other infrastructure.  And if all federal funding comes through that the state could qualify for, state and local governments would have to cover about 98-million dollars of that cost.”


The State Capital In Montpelier, Vermont

When you add in the millions in damage to private property, the final toll will be well over $1 billion dollars.

Some, but not many, private property owners carry flood insurance simply because floods of this magnitude seldom take place.  Snow melt each Spring brings high water and some low-land flooding, but that’s minor compared to the devastation wrought by Irene.

How this tiny state will offset the 98 million dollar balance falls in the lap of the state legislature, which convenes in January, and local governments who are already clamoring for more “state aid” to deal with local deficits.  

Meanwhile, the State government is trying to deal with a deficit spending problem of its own, so it will be no small task for the totally Democrat controlled legislature to address.

In a state where one in six residents is a food stamp recipient, and the state debt per citizen is pegged at $7,563, it will be extremely difficult to ask the 633,621 residents to accept major increases in such things as gasoline taxes, which clobber the poor and middle class.  The current state gas tax is already astronomical.  

A number of “tax the rich” proposals have surfaced, as expected, from the Progressives, but Vermont isn’t exactly overrun by millionaires, so it’s difficult to imagine that higher taxation rates on the well-to-do is going to make much of a dent in that 98 million dollar shortfall.  

Irene has put Vermont at a major crossroads.  How the state chooses to deal with this financial nightmare remains to be seen, but one thing is certain - the effects will be felt for decades to come.