Bond bank releases first-ever disaster reserve benchmarks for Vermont Towns

Last week, Vermont recognized the ongoing flood exposure facing the state with the passing of July 10, a now-infamous date for Vermont. In the weeks that followed July 10, 2023, the Vermont Bond Bank (Bond Bank) collaborated with partners to develop the idea that would become the Municipal Climate Recovery Fund. To date, the program has lent more than $33 million to 27 municipalities to assist in recovery.

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The benchmarks rely on FEMA data that was combined with the Bond Bank’s database of municipal financial statements for the analysis in the white paper. The findings are encouraging: the typical Vermont community needs to set aside less than 1% of its annual budget to meet its benchmark. Federal policy uncertainty clouds this picture, as this amount would quadruple without FEMA assistance, and more than 40% of towns would need to use more than half of their annual budget to cover losses from a large event.

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