The Municipal Planning Grant (MPG) program encourages and supports planning and revitalization for local municipalities in Vermont.
Donor Name: Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD)
State: Vermont
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/03/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
The Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will grant funds to municipalities to promote planning, revitalization, and development activities that maintain Vermont’s land use goal of compact settlements separated by rural lands.
Funding Information
- The maximum grant amount is $30,000 for individual municipalities and $45,000 for group (consortium) applications.
- A consortium of municipalities may apply for a grant of any amount between $2,500 and $45,000 with a minimum local cash match of 10%, based on the total project cost.
Grant Period
January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027.
Uses of Funds
- Underwrite expenses for public meetings and hearings, informational workshops, citizen surveys, outreach, and notification costs
- Support research, data collection, capacity studies, inventories, and mapping
- Pay consultants, interns, regional planning commission staff, or legal fees associated with the project
- Purchase development rights, easements, and titles of properties for housing and conservation purposes identified in the municipal plan
- Purchase materials needed to produce a plan, bylaw, or implement or administer the project — like writing supplies, maps, and copies
- Conduct other non-prohibited activities
- Pay an RPC with ‘agent’ status for project management expenses up to 5% of subcontracted (non-RPC) expenses. This must be disclosed in the application and be included as a line in the work plan and budget.
Eligible Activities
The Municipal Planning Grant Program supports a wide range of projects relating to planning, land use, and resilience and promotes cooperation, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas. Eligible projects must have a clear connection to planning and implementation of the municipal plan and will be reviewed for conformance with the regional plan, as well as statewide smart growth principles, planning goals, and land use policies.
Eligibility Criteria
- Individual municipalities with a local planning process confirmed by the RPC (including an unexpired plan) on or before October 31, 2025, are eligible to apply. To be confirmed, a locally adopted plan must be approved by the RPC, and the municipality must maintain efforts to provide local funds for municipal and regional planning purposes as required by 24 V.S.A. §4350. The Department does not require the submission of a plan confirmation letter from the RPC.
- Municipalities without a confirmed local planning process may apply for funding only to create a municipal plan approvable by the RPC and must have voted to provide local funds for municipal and regional planning purposes. Grant proposals from municipalities that have received RPC recommendations to bring their plan into compliance with statewide requirements must propose to address the changes identified by the RPC.
- Municipal organizations other than the governing body and the planning commission (such as the conservation or economic development commission) may also apply for a grant, but only with prior approval of the municipal governing body and planning commission. Municipalities may not receive funding if they are suspended or debarred by the State or Federal Government; delinquent in submitting their subrecipient annual report; or delinquent in submitting their single audit reports (if required).
For more information, visit DHCD.
