Candidate questionnaire: Rep. Timothy Corcoran II

Each of the four candidates in the August 13 primary for two Democratic Party nominations from the Bennington-2 House District was asked by the Bennington Banner to respond to a questionnaire. We asked why they are motivated to run and what their priorities are. These are Rep. Corcoran’s responses:

If re-elected to the Vermont legislature, my priorities would be major property tax reform, housing, crime/drug addiction, and climate mitigation.

Vermonters are well aware property taxes are unsustainable, the original projected residential property tax rate this year was up around 20 percent. There were many factors contributing to this drastic increase. Some of those are the rising cost of health care, the unavailability of COVID relief money this year, and inflation.

The Legislature was able to lower the rate to an average of 13.8 percent.

The residential rate in Bennington turned out to be 5 percent; in North Bennington the rate is 4 percent.

Another thing that the Legislature did was set up a commission to make recommendations back to the Legislature on how we can reconfigure how we fund the education system. If I’m re-elected, I look forward to reading that report and seeing what elements of it that we can implement to change the trajectory of rising property taxes.

Another big issue is housing. Being a real estate agent, I see first-hand the lack of housing in that the cost of purchasing a home is getting out of reach for first-time homebuyers.

While we made strides in building homes, in which the Legislature invested hundreds of millions dollars of COVID relief dollars to try to alleviate the lack of houses, it still wasn’t enough.

We know we can’t buy ourselves out of this predicament; we must continue to explore more public-private partnerships, like we have done here in Bennington. Two great examples of that are the old Bennington high school building and the Putnam Block building. We have to streamline the permit process and where practical change local zoning to help facilitate building houses.

Crime and drug use typically go hand-in-hand. People unfortunately don’t have to look very far to see the devastation people addicted to drugs have done to their communities.

We’re seeing more and more violent crimes and thefts. It is critical to support law-enforcement and develop community-based programs to combat the root causes of these problems. The collaboration with local organizations could advance the effectiveness of these initiatives.

The climate crisis in the world is real. I think nobody doubts that you don’t have to look very far to see the devastation that Vermont has faced, with flooding year after year.

We must continue to expand on the work that has done this past session, such as S.213, the Flood Safety Act. Furthermore, we must continue providing grants for e-bikes and EV cars.

Outside the Legislature, I’m a real estate agent. I’m married and have an 11-year-old daughter.

My desire to run for re-election is to be part of the response to tough issues Vermonters will be facing next session.

I feel I bring a common sense view to the Legislature, and most importantly bring a balance to legislation, which I believe is desperately needed in Montpelier.

Corcoran, 51, who has served in the Legislature since 2003, is one of four candidates for two Democratic Party nominations on the November election ballot. Asher Edelson, Will Greer and Leon Johnson are the other three Democrats in the primary race.

The other incumbent in Bennington-2, Rep. Dane Whitman, isn’t seeking another term.