Although not a member of “Mensa”, I do believe that I am able to comprehend diverse concepts and empirical data and draw rational conclusions from the information. However often it appears that essential information is lost in the fog and generalities of the general public discussions of current issues. As an example consider the following:

Wednesday’s issue of The Burlington Free Press the newspaper published an article on the Vermont Legislature’s proposal to “achieve a $1.6 million in savings” in the Current Use Program. (For those unfamiliar with the program , Vermont created the program in 1978 that enacts a tax policy that taxes farm and forest lands based upon use rather than fair market value with the State paying to the community the discounted property tax amount. Facing a $150 Million revenue shortage the Legislature is looking at “all options” to balance the State’s budget.  Below is a link to the article and some facts about the program.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

Highlighted in the article are some “Current Use Program Facts” including the point that the lands participating in the program comprise 1/3rd of the total acreage of the State of Vermont.

Juxtapose the information about the “Current Use Program” with the summary from the findings in the annual report produced by the Vermont Housing Finance Agency entitled Between a Rock and a Hard Place which finds:

• 61 % of Vermont households cannot afford to purchase the median priced home $200,000

• The median price of a newly constructed home is $270,000

• The Fair Market monthly rent for a modest 2 bedroom apartment is $914.00

• 52% of non farm workers cannot afford the Fair Market rent for a 2 bedroom apartment

• Vermont has the lowest rental market vacancy rate in the nation

The conclusion is that in order to create more affordable housing “changes to unnecessary regulatory obstacles to housing development and support from Vermonters … who will be advocates for housing in the face of almost inevitable opposition to new housing development.”

The full report and additional housing data can be found at the link below.

http://www.vhfa.org/documents/…

Now create a pie chart divided into 3 equal parts; one to represent lands in the State already committed to their existing use, i.e., existing structures, mountain tops, local roads, interstate highways and other transportation corridors, cliffs, wetlands and other natural areas. Use the Second 1/3rd of the pie chart to represent the lands in the Current Use Program. And the last third of the pie chart to represent the balance of the State’s acreage which would be available for development of affordable housing. Even with an elementary understanding of the economic theory of supply and demand the obvious conclusion is that when demand exceeds supply the cost of the limited available resource increases.

So, when you, dear reader, “connect the dots” presented by the information above; what image to you see of the State’s effort to address the issue of affordable housing?