Historically low mortgage interest rates continued to improve home buying affordability in 2012, according to an index prepared each year by the Vermont Economy Newsletter.

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.