Welcome to Our CHIP Learning Resources
This page helps you learn about the Community and Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP). CHIP is a new program that uses project-based Tax Increment Financing to finance infrastructure improvements that enable housing development.
VLCT's three‑year municipal workforce development effort – CHIP IN VT – helps towns and cities understand how CHIP works and how to use it well. As part of this effort, we are hosting a series of webinars for local governments. Each webinar explains a different part of the program, from building with CHIP to carrying out long-term responsibilities.
After every webinar (and sometimes between webinars), we add tools and resources to this page. These materials are designed to help you take the next step, build your skills, and feel confident using CHIP in your community.
Introducing CHIP: Vermont's $2B Housing and Infrastructure Program
CHIP overview and resources to help municipalities launch their CHIP efforts.
- CHIP IN VT: Building Local Capacity for Housing and Infrastructure is VLCT 's CHIP IN VT landing page
- CHIP Introductory Brochure is a trifold brochure that can be included in meeting packets
- Actions to Enable Housing Development in Your Community
- Best Practices for Committees to Work Effectively with Municipal Leaders
Building with CHIP: Project Readiness and Pre-Development Planning
Pre-development workflow, resources, and support available to municipalities.
Municipal Readiness
- CHIP Municipal Readiness Self-Assessment – Understand your community's readiness to participate in a CHIP application and experience.
- Increasing Municipal Capacity for Grants – A list of resource providers to increase municipal capacity for grants. Some provide CHIP assistance too.
- Drinking Water, Wastewater, and Housing in Vermont – This webpage of the Vermont Rural Water Association explains elements that contribute to assessing water and wastewater capacity.
- Questions-for-Local-Water-Wastewater-Systems.docx – Questions compiled by the Vermont Rural Water Association to help you learn about water and wastewater systems serving your community.
Working with Developers
- Early Questions to Ask Housing Developers Seeking CHIP Financing – A guide for early conversations with developers. Includes a meeting notes template.
- CHIP Project Readiness: Sketch Plans – What a sketch plan is, how it is used, and typical elements included on sketch plans in Vermont.
- Tools and Support for Local Mapmaking – A list of reliable mapping tools and support options to make planning easier and help your community understand local projects.
- Environmental Review Starter Guide for Local Governments – Key data sources, maps, and explanations related to environmental reviews to help you understand what information is required and why it matters; a resource for conducting preliminary CHIP and infrastructure project reviews.