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Vermont offers $10,000 move-in bonus to attract new ‘working’ residents

Vermont offers $10,000 move-in bonus to attract new ‘working’ residents

The state expects you to bring your remote-work with you…along with the ability to pay taxes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Pum5HfNkQ

June 5th is Primary Day in California, and as I look at the returns and analyze how much father into madness my state has descended, I am mulling over escape plans.

Perhaps I should consider Vermont, as the state is now offering a $10,000 move-in bonus to attract new residents.

The remote working movement is hotter than ever. According to Deskmag, an online magazine about coworking, a staggering 1.7 million people will work remotely in 2018. Remote-working concepts like Terminal 3 and Remote Year are proliferating, not to mention coworking spaces, which are on the rise globally.

Now, Vermont wants a piece of the action. Yes, Vermont.

The state is trying to attract new residents with a clever campaign aimed at the remote-working movement. Governor Phil Scott just approved a piece of legislation that will pay 100 people up to $10,000 to move to Vermont in 2019 with the new “Remote Worker Grant Program.”

Of course, there is a catch. You have to bring your remote-work job with you to get that bonus.

To qualify for the new program, you must work remotely and full time for a business not located in Vermont and establish state residency by Jan. 1, 2019. Current residents of the Green Mountain State are not eligible.

According to state officials and the official summary of the new legislation, the financial incentive is intended to help cover a worker’s moving costs and business expenses related to working remotely, such as for new technology.

“It’s not going to be where we are going to write checks and people are going to come,” Goldstein said. “It’ll be more like reimbursement for moving expenses, that sort of thing.”

The stated reason is that Vermont officials want a little diversity…in the age of its residents.

…While the state may be rich in beautiful landscapes and maple syrup, it has a rapidly shrinking tax base.

“Vermont continues to age, and age faster than the nation as a whole,” writes Art Woolf for the Burlington Free Press. “Over the past quarter of a century, the median age nationally has increased by almost five years to 37.8 while Vermont’s has increased by 10 years.”

This trend has made Vermont one of the oldest states in the nation.

Likely, the high median age is a contributing factor in Vermont’s struggles with Obamacare.  Adding taxpayers instead of tax-takers has probably come more of a priority.

Additionally, Vermont is also offering a Stay-to-Stay program.

Stay to Stay Weekends is “a lodging and networking package to connect guests to employers, entrepreneurs, and potential neighbors in local communities around Vermont,” in an attempt to convince the state’s 13 million annual tourists to permanently relocate there.

“We have about 16,000 fewer workers than we did in 2009. That’s why expanding our workforce is one of the top priorities of my administration,” Scott said in a statement. “We must think outside the box to help more Vermonters enter the labor force and attract more working families and young professionals to Vermont. That’s exactly what the Department of Tourism and Marketing did with this program for out-of-state visitors who may be interested in living full-time in Vermont, and I’m excited to see it move forward.”

The tagline could be: Vermont – Come for the syrup, stay for the socialism!

However, as a Californian, it still would be a step in the right direction for me.

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Comments

So, 100 very smart people will move there so they can pay high taxes.

“Up to $10,000…” includes $1.00 I think.

I moved to Texas in 1980. I’ll stay in Texas. Thank you anyway, Vermont.

P.S. I no longer own a snow shovel.