Reverse Brattleboro Selectboard vote for more GA motel rooms

To the Members of the Brattleboro Select Board:

We, the undersigned residents, taxpayers, and stakeholders of Brattleboro, Vermont, respectfully but firmly oppose the Select Board's recent 3-2 vote to request that the State increase the town's General Assistance (GA) motel voucher capacity from 117 to 137 rooms. We call on the Board to reverse this decision and instead pursue a firm, reasonable cap on Brattleboro's share of the program.

The program costs Brattleboro tax dollars, reduces the ability to provide services to taxpayers, and reduced non-tax income.

• Town staff estimated the cost of  police, fire and EMS responses to the GA motel program locations at $646,000 for fiscal 2025.
• When Brattleboro previously reduced its share of GA rooms, emergency calls to those properties dropped by 11%, representing 135 fewer calls per year. That freed emergency personnel to respond to incidents throughout the broader community — our neighborhoods, our businesses, our families. This vote reverses that hard-won progress.
• Brattleboro relies on its meals, rooms, and alcohol tax as a meaningful source of municipal revenue — generating an average of approximately $500,000 per year. Every room in the GA motel program cuts this revenue.
• Every dollar spent by the Town to meet the needs of the State’s motel program is a dollar we don’t have to take care of town roads, town buildings, and the people who have been paying taxes in this town for decades.

We Call On the Select Board To:

1. Reverse the 3-2 vote and withdraw the request to increase GA motel capacity to 137 rooms.

2. Establish a firm, proportional cap on Brattleboro's share of GA program placements — one that reflects our 2% share of the state's population, not 10-19%.

3. Direct the Town Manager to communicate to the Vermont Department for Children and Families that Brattleboro will no longer accept a disproportionate share of statewide emergency housing placements.

4. Conduct a full, transparent accounting of the fiscal impact — including emergency response costs and lost tax revenues — before any future decisions to expand the program.

Brattleboro is a compassionate community. We support humane solutions to homelessness. But compassion must be balanced with fiscal responsibility and fairness to the taxpayers and residents of this town. Enough is enough

Timothy Belknap    Contact the author of the petition