All Vermont residents who own and occupy their home on April 1 must once again file the Homestead Declaration annually by the due date for filing Vermont income tax returns, which is April 15this year. When homeowners file their declaration, the town is then able to apply the correct education property tax rate to the property.

An estimated 14,400 Vermont workers (4.8 percent) commute an hour or longer, according to a recent Census Bureau study of people who worked outside the home in 2011.  Every New England state had a higher prevalence of long commutes than Vermont. Nationwide, 8.1 percent of workers commuted this long.  

Earlier this week, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission released its vision for the future of housing policy in its report:  Housing America's Future: New Directions for National Policy.  The recommendations include replacing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a government corporation to provid