The death of a wealthy Vermonter has led to a dispute in Montpelier over whether lawmakers should use taxpayer money to help the University of Vermont build a 5,000-seat athletic and entertainment venue on its Burlington campus.
Vermont received $55 million in estate tax revenue last year, a sum that shattered previous records and resulted mostly from a single estate changing hands. Republican Gov. Phil Scott wants to put $15 million of that windfall toward a proposed multi-purpose center that he says will be a “a huge economic driver for both the state and university.”
Senate lawmakers have mostly embraced the governor’s plan and included $12 million for the project in the state budget they approved last week.
“In order to recruit those students here, we need to provide them with the kind of facilities they expect."UVM President Marlene Tromp
“It’s just straight up economic development for the state,” said Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth, a longtime professor at UVM. “My sense is this will grow many, many jobs over the years and that economic benefits will accrue to everyone, not just UVM.”
House lawmakers, however, are less inclined to invest public funds in a new home for UVM’s Division I basketball and hockey programs.
“We didn’t feel like the case was really made for why this should happen,” said Middlebury Rep. Robin Scheu, the Democratic chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
UVM President Marlene Tromp has tried to make that case during numerous appearances before lawmakers this year. The $175 million complex, she said, will drive enrollment at a time when a “demographic cliff” threatens to shrink the number of students attending the state’s largest university.
“In order to recruit those students here, we need to provide them with the kind of facilities they expect,” she said.
She also said the venue will become a revenue-generating hub not just for UVM athletics, but for concerts, high school tournaments and conferences.
The university broke ground on the project in late 2019 but halted construction during the pandemic. By the time it was ready to resume, Tromp said, “costs escalated and there wasn’t a ready solution.”
UVM needs an additional $100 million to complete the project. While two wealthy donors have committed a total of $30 million, Tromp said other prospective donors have been more hesitant.
“When the project was stalled, it really broke faith of a lot of people,” she said.
Tromp said would-be donors have told her that if the state of Vermont makes a financial commitment to the project, then they’ll follow suit.
Scholarships or a stadium?
Under Vermont law, all estate tax revenue above 125% of what the state had forecast for that year goes into the Higher Education Trust Fund. That fund, which subsidizes tuition for Vermonters attending state colleges and UVM, got an infusion of more than $27 million as a result of the windfall, nearly doubling the previous balance.
Addison County Sen. Ruth Hardy said that, since the fund was created in the 1990s, tuition subsidies haven’t come close to keeping pace with the cost of college.
“And if we have more money for scholarships, we should use it for scholarships,” she said.
Scheu, who previously served for nearly a decade as executive director of the Addison County Economic Development Corporation, said she’s not convinced UVM’s project will deliver the multiplying economic effects Tromp has promised.
In a tight budget year where demands for spending have outstripped available funding, Scheu said there are other expenditures that might deliver better returns for all Vermont taxpayers.
“Could we use it for housing or infrastructure? Or research facilities on campus or workforce development?” Scheu said. “How does this spending of $12 million this way compare with the economic benefits of $12 million spent another way? None of those questions have been asked.”
As House and Senate lawmakers work to negotiate a final version of the 2027 state budget this week, the UVM appropriation could become a key bargaining chip.
It’s unclear what the fate of the UVM complex would be without state funding – a UVM spokesperson declined to make someone available for an interview for this story, and would not say whether the project will go forward without state funding.
