Vermont

Decision instrument

The General Assembly authorizes state general obligation debt. A town bond question goes to the voters.

What public act authorizes the borrowing, and where is the purpose and the first-year cost written down? 24 V.S.A. § 1755. The warning states the purpose, the estimated cost, and the amount. The ballot form is in § 1758 and does not print the fraction of votes required to carry a general obligation bond. Revenue bonds payable only from net revenues require a majority of voters present and voting (24 V.S.A. § 1822). That majority is not copied onto general obligation bonds. In the 2025 session the General Assembly authorized $100.0 million of new general obligation debt. A particular act is not attached here.

Debt statement

No Annual Debt Statement of the New Jersey kind.

What yearly filing states gross debt, deductions, and how close the issuer is to its limit? The state debt statement is in the annual report and in the Capital Debt Affordability Advisory Committee report. Town and county dollar rows are not attached.

Debt limit

A municipality may not incur public-improvement debt, with debt already outstanding, above ten times its last grand list.

What cap binds a county or a city, and is the state's own ceiling a different rule? 24 V.S.A. § 1762. Bonds over that line are void. The cap does not apply to bonds for ordinary expenses under §§ 1752 and 1754. The section does not restate the cap as a percent of market value, so no percent is printed here. No percentage ceiling on the state’s own general obligation stock is attached.

Conflict rule

A municipal conflict is an interest greater than the interest of people generally affected by the same matter.

Which ethics statute covers local officers, what counts as an interest, and who is left out? 24 V.S.A. §§ 1991 and 1992, in effect January 1, 2025. There is no percent-of-a-business test and no dollar threshold in that definition. It covers listed town and city officers. School board members are not on that list. A separate school rule, and the state’s own executive disclosure rule, are not attached.

Geography

Fourteen counties. Towns and cities are the usual local borrowers.

What is the county-equivalent, and which cities, schools, and authorities must not be pasted onto that row? FIPS 50001 through 50027. Vermont calls the county seat a shire town. Bennington has two: Bennington and Manchester. County dollar rows stay blank. A town is not pasted onto a county.

Primary money record

$550.1 million general obligation bonds.

Which audited report is the state's own number, and as of what date? Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, year ended June 30, 2025. Outstanding general obligation bonds: $550,120,000. Of that, $549,080,000 is carried as a general-fund source and $1,040,000 as a transportation-fund source. The state redeemed $56,125,000 of principal during the year. Authorized but unissued general obligation bonds: $252,252,452.

Who pays the coupon

Since 2010, general obligation debt service is paid from the General Obligation Bonds Debt Service Fund.

Which fund, tax, or rate is actually pledged — not which new store might show up later? On the bonds outstanding June 30, 2025, the requirement for fiscal 2026 is $75.858 million: principal $54.105 million and interest $21.753 million. The general-fund slice is $75.552 million and the transportation-fund slice is $0.306 million. That is a schedule of what is due. It is not cash paid in fiscal 2025, and it does not include a later bond issue.

Other obligors

Vermont Bond Bank reserve commitment: $686.7 million. Do not add it to the $550.1 million.

Which authorities and districts borrow beside the state and must not be added to its total? The affordability report calls it the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank. A later official statement calls it the Vermont Bond Bank. Either way it is a reserve-fund commitment, not bonds the state has outstanding. Property-transfer-tax bonds of the Housing Finance Agency are a separate $25.7 million. Net tax-supported debt is $663.0 million in the affordability report and $721.4 million in the later official statement. The difference is leases and technology subscriptions, and the affordability report says its lease roll-forward can omit new leases. The general obligation principal agrees in both. The file uses $550.1 million.

Book-entry wall

Cede & Co., at the Depository Trust Company.

Who is the registered owner on ordinary public paper? Series-level confirmation still waits on that official statement. Beneficial owners stay unnamed.