RUTLAND TOWN, Vt. (WCAX) – New changes to the state’s motel voucher program have gone into effect aimed at addressing both state budget concerns as well as reducing people’s dependence on the program. Meanwhile, authorities in the Rutland area say some long-standing problems with the program persist.
According to Rutland Town officials, at least 24 unregistered vehicles sit in the parking lot of the Cortina Inn off Route 7. Vermont law considers over four vehicles to be a salvage yard. Rutland Town’s health officer in a meeting last week also said camping and drug use at the property is a concern.
“Most of our issues come from the Cortina or the area around the Cortina. The businesses in that area are where we spend most of our time,” said Rutland Town Police Chief Ed Dumas.
The Department for Children and Families’ Economic Services Division, which oversees the voucher program, says changes made to Act 113 cap the number of days participants can stay in hotels and the number of rooms available — 80 days between July 1 to November 30, and the same between April 1 and June 30 of next year.
Multiple hotels that participate in the program fall within Rutland city limits. “Our goal as the city is to hold these hotel owners to a standard and that standard is the one that they agreed to when they agreed to be a hotel,” said Rutland Mayor Mike Doenges. He says there are multiple public safety challenges and that police respond to calls at hotels frequently. Doenges says local authorities knowing who is housed in the hotels would make the program run smoother. “It’s important to remember a lot of the vulnerable population that is at the hotel are there because they need something and they don’t have the tools to get those situations. But those bad actors — we have to protect ourselves from the ones that are there as well.”
“I’m all for helping people. I would like to see the state — if they’re going to have a list of people that are staying. We should keep children and families in one place, we should probably keep the people that are lawbreakers or troublemakers in another place,” Dumas said.
The owner of the Cortina, Dhruv Kumar, told officials at last week’s selectboard meeting that he’s working to get rid of unregistered cars or helping residents to register them.