ECRWSS PRSRT STD US Postage
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Permit #15 Williston,VT 05495 POSTAL CUSTOMER
MAY 7, 2020
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
Williston hotels provide homeless and essential worker housing The department is currently housing 445 adults and 41 kids in shelters and hotels in ChittenWith homeless shelters in Chit- den County. There are 16 families tenden County either closed or currently living at the Sonesta, and operating at reduced capacity be- there is room for more, Brown cause of the physical distancing said. “We are working with severrequirements of the coronavirus pandemic, the Vermont Depart- al new hotels we haven’t worked ment of Children and Families has with before,” he said. “Participation in the looked to Williston to help Outside of Burlington, program keeps growing. So house homeWilliston is the county’s far we’ve been less families able to meet hotel hub, with four under its emerthe need with gency housing hotels located near new hotels.” program. Interstate 89’s Exit 12 The Sonesta Outside of is well-suited Burlington, interchange. for families Williston is the because it has county’s hotel hub, with four hotels located near suites built for extended stays. It Interstate 89’s Exit 12 interchange. is one of 12 hotels in the county The hotels are currently closed to being used as emergency housing. the general public under Gov. Phil The department pays the hotels on Scott’s pandemic emergency or- a per-room, per-night basis. The governor’s emergency order. Some are housing doctors, nurses and other essential workers, der is set to expire on May 15, but according to Police Chief Patrick may be extended. Either way, the department is trying to create perFoley. The Sonesta Suites on Hurri- manent housing capacity for the cane Lane has become part of the people it is currently serving. “There is a wide range of reaDepartment of Children and Families’ emergency shelter program, sons why the different people we providing rooms for homeless are serving are homeless,” Brown said. “We are trying to understand families in Chittenden County. all their different circumstances.” The Sonesta is new to the proThe hotels will also have differgram, which typically provides ent transition plans if they are alhotel rooms for up to 84 days to lowed to resume normal business. people in emergency situations, or “Some hotels may transition up to 28 days for families in vul- back to normal business, or they nerable situations. Those length- may want to keep working with us of-time caps have been waived based on the circumstances at that during the pandemic. time,” Brown said. Brown said Sonesta managePolice Chief Foley is given a ment reached out to the depart- daily tally of people being housed ment about offering rooms when at local hotels to help the state the state emergency order went conduct compliance checks to eninto effect in March. Under the sure hotels aren’t housing typical order, hotels can’t accept regular guests. As of last week, the Townplace guests until June 15 at the earliest. Suites by Marriott on Zephyr Road The pandemic has created a was about half full with essential surge in housing need among peoworkers, and the Fairfield Inn by ple who were in precarious housMarriott on Route 2A was about ing situations, Brown said — for 15 percent full, Foley said. The example, people living temporariCourtyard Marriott on Hurricane ly with friends or family members. “It’s at least double than nor- Lane also had a handful of rooms occupied, he said. mal,” he said.
WWW.WILLISTONOBSERVER.COM
Rock star cheer
By Jason Starr Observer staff
Observer photos by Al Frey
TOP: A mystery artist painted and arranged these rocks near the Korner Kwik Stop in Williston. ABOVE: A heart-shaped rock adorned with rainbow paint soaks up the sun near Williston Central School. RIGHT: Daffodils bloom in Williston village.
Town equipped to handle sales tax revenue shortfall After10 years of steady growth, the Town of Williston’s local sales tax revenue is expected to crater in the economic standstill of the coronavirus pandemic. The revenue — a 1 percent levy on retail sales, restaurant meals and hotel room bookings — hit a record high in 2019, accounting for $3.2 million of a roughly $11 million town budget. The money is placed in the town’s general fund, and excesses over what was budgeted have accumulated into a $3.4 million “rainy day fund.” Through the first two quarters of the current fiscal year, which began last July, local sales tax revenue was trending about $100,000 over budget, according to Town Manager Rick McGuire. The
quarter that ended this March will be the first where the effects of the pandemic will be felt, as hotels and restaurant either closed or scaled back and people have been under orders to stay home as much as possible to slow the spread of the virus. The current quarter — April, May and June — will be even more affected. When the fiscal year ends in June, it’s possible that sales tax revenue being above projections during the first half of the fiscal year will cover the shortfall expected in the second half of the fiscal year, McGuire said. “I’ve been saying for years, this revenue source is highly volatile,”
McGuire said. “This is an extreme example of that.” Gov. Phil Scott has begun incremental steps to allow some business sectors to reopen, but hotels and restaurants remain closed or scaled back. Those sectors will continue to be hampered by the stay-at-home order. Town administrators had plans to spend down some of the rainy day fund on capital projects or as revenue for future budgets, but those funds may be better used to fill revenue losses, McGuire said. The balance has never been this high. “That is our cushion,” McGuire said.
— Jason Starr