Community Renewal Good Stories - Burlington

Information by State  Print version

CRD Helps Burlington Reclaim Its Historic Waterfront

Burlington, Vermont, RC

Vermont Pub & Brewery, a Burlington, Vermont, restaurant that crafts its own varieties of ales and lagers, was able to claim $22,380 in RC wage credits on its 2002 taxes.

"Renewal Community tax incentives are valuable economic development tools," said Bruce Seifer, assistant director of economic development in Burlington's Office of Community and Economic Development.

The experience of the 15-year-old local pub and brewery seems to bear out Seifer's assertion. Of the enterprise's 64 part-time and full-time employees in 2002, 18 lived in the RC. Because businesses located in the RC can receive up to $1,500 in wage credits every year for each employee who resides in the RC, these workers created a substantial tax benefit for the Vermont Pub & Brewery.

Seifer emphasized the importance of getting the word out about the value of RC wage credits and other economic development incentives. "Through our city's outreach efforts, businesses are regularly informed as to how these incentives can be used to their advantage," he said. "Whether it is through the use of commercial revitalization deductions for a large development or redevelopment project or through keeping hard-earned dollars using wage credits, it is clear that the net result of these incentives is the strengthening of the economy of the whole community."

For more information on the programs of the Burlington RC, please contact Bruce Seifer at (802) 865-7144.