Municipal Planning Grants offer funding support for Vermont’s cities, towns, and villages to adapt to change and lead their future. Individual towns may apply for $2,500 to $30,000, and multi-town applications (a consortium) may apply for up to $45,000. A local cash match of 10% of the total project cost is required. Zero match is required for zoning/subdivision bylaw projects in municipalities without zoning/subdivision bylaws.
What This Program Funds
This flexible State funding for planning and resilience can pay for a variety of projects, including a new or updated municipal plan.
Statewide priorities for 2025 include:
- New or updated zoning or subdivision bylaws that that implement Act 47 of 2023 (HOME Act) and Act 181 of 2024 (Resilience, Biodiversity & Land Use Act).
- Climate resilience and flood recovery projects.
- Housing development projects (is your community CHIP-ready?).
- Capital programs and budgets for infrastructure maintenance and improvements.
- Physical improvement plans, historic preservation bylaws, or other planning for a State Designated area.
- Pre-requisite planning to prepare for a downtown/village center or center "step up" designation application.
- Innovative and statewide projects that serve as a replicable model for other communities.
- Projects that support communities for all ages that align with Age Strong Vermont: A Roadmap for an Age-friendly State.
The program will fund public engagement; support data collection, studies, and mapping; pay consultants and service providers, purchase development rights; purchase supplies for a project; and pay your regional planning commission to act as your project manager (if included in the application).
How Your Community Applies
- Your municipality must register in the GEARS system before you can submit an application. Register early! If you have a GEARS account, check to make sure you still have access to the account and that the municipality's information is current.
- The municipal Planning Commission must warn the application on its meeting agenda and vote to endorse the project. The Chair of the Planning Commission must sign a Municipal Resolution,
- The City Council or Selectboard must sign the same Municipal Resolution and designate certain roles for GEARS administration. The fully completed and signed Municipal Resolution is submitted with the application.
- People designated as the Municipal/Authorizing Official(s) and Grant Administrator in the Municipal Resolution must register for an account in GEARS.
- The application must be submitted through the GEARS system by November 3, 2025. Remember to prepare your responses offline and then copy them into the GEARS application. The GEARS system times out after 40 minutes, even if you are actively working on the application. Don't lose your application!
Make Your Community’s Application Competitive
To increase your application's competitiveness:
- Earn the most points during the review process by having a strong workplan and budget by;
- having a project that benefits a State designed area;
- addressing statewide priorities; and
- having sustained public engagement throughout the project.
- Coordinate with State agencies that have a planning or regulatory authority over the proposed project (ex. traffic calming in the state highway right-of-way requires pre-application coordination with VTrans). This is required for the application.
The Application Guide helps you understand how answers to application questions will be evaluated, which makes grant writing easier.
Where You Can Learn More
Please review the Program Description for eligibility requirements and the Application Guide for application questions. You also can review the recorded training session when it becomes available.
Find Grant Writing or Grant/Project Management Help for Your Community
VLCT published a resource, Increasing Municipal Capacity for Grants, that offers ideas for assistance with grants. Many of the capacity builders also provide project management services. Hiring experienced project management assistance can increase the speed of project development and help avoid cost, permitting, and other development surprises.