§ 2472 - Department of housing and community affairs - Vermont Statutes

§ 2472. Department of housing and community affairs

(a) The department of housing and community affairs 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.

(b) Neither the Vermont state housing authority or the Vermont home mortgage guarantee board agency shall be considered part of the department of housing and community affairs, but shall keep the department advised of programs and activities being conducted. (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.)