David Coates: The consequences of doing nothing
Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Coates, a retired managing partner at KPMG — Vermont and a member of the Vermont Business Roundtable. He was a member of the 2010 state Commission on the...
View ArticleDavid Coates: The consequences of doing something
Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Coates, a retired managing partner at KPMG — Vermont and a member of the Vermont Business Roundtable. He was a member of the 2010 state Commission on the...
View ArticleDavid Coates: More bad pension news for Vermont
Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Coates, a retired managing partner at KPMG — Vermont and a member of the Vermont Business Roundtable. He was a member of the 2010 state Commission on the...
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Vermont’s ballooning pension debt threatens state’s financial future
The gap between what Vermont owes current and future retired state employees and teachers, and what assets it has to pay them, has ballooned in the last decade, threatening not only the future of the...
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Moody’s drops Vermont’s longstanding triple A rating
Vermont lost its longstanding triple A bond rating with Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday as the influential credit rating agency factored in the state’s slower-than-average economic growth, aging...
View ArticleDavid Coates: Vermont has a negative net worth
Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Coates, a retired managing partner at KPMG — Vermont and a member of the Vermont Business Roundtable. He was a member of the 2010 state Commission on the...
View ArticleDon Turner: Unfunded liabilities are state’s sleeping giant
Editor’s note: This commentary is by Don Turner, who is a former state representative from Milton, former House minority leader, current Milton town manager and longtime member of the Milton Fire and...
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Burlington College trustees express dismay at colleague’s secret investment
The former Burlington College building in Burlington, which was originally an orphanage, is now part of a housing complex. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Former trustees at Burlington College are...
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Aging population and flat growth prompt bond rating downgrade
State Treasurer Beth Pearce. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger This story was updated at 2:30 p.m. on July 11. A major credit rating agency dropped Vermont’s bond rating Wednesday, citing the state’s...
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Senate leaders blast rating agencies after bond rating downgrades
Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, speaks with members of the media at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Weeks after a...
View ArticleShumlin announces formation of nonprofit group to manage the deployment of...
Vermonters and out of state donors have contributed $1.3 million to the Vermont Disaster Relief Fund, and though the money continues to come in, how it will be spent has yet to be determined. Enter...
View ArticleCoates: Vermont’s expanding pension crisis
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by David Coates, the former managing partner of the Vermont KPMG Office, the American Institute of CPAs, the Vermont Business Roundtable and a member of the Commission on...
View ArticleCoates & Ventriss: Another year later and deeper in debt
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by David Coates, who is a retired partner of KPMG, and Lisa Ventriss, who is president of the Vermont Business Roundtable. Beginning in 2009 we have periodically written to...
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Shumlin forms business council to advise on single payer financing
Gov. Peter Shumlin and David Coates, who will head a newly formed advisory council on single-payer health care financing. File photo by Taylor Dobbs Last week, Gov. Peter Shumlin created a 20-member...
View ArticleCoates & Ventriss: Seizing the opportunity
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by David Coates, who is a retired partner of KPMG, and Lisa Ventriss, who is president of the Vermont Business Roundtable. Vermont has been faced with the underfunding of...
View ArticleCoates: VSC chancellor has fair solution to retirement obligation problem
Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Coates, a retired managing partner at KPMG — Vermont. For the last several years, I have been working to raise awareness in Vermont about the challenge we...
View ArticleDavid Coates: State pension woes become municipal woes
Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Coates, a retired managing partner at KPMG — Vermont and a member of the Vermont Business Roundtable. He was a member of the 2010 state Commission on the...
View ArticleSteven Jeffrey: Vermont municipal retirement fund in excellent shape
Editor’s note: This commentary is by Steven E. Jeffrey, who is the chair of the Vermont Municipal Employees Retirement System, where he has been on the board since 1982. He is also the executive...
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Burlington College’s future depends on community support, interim leader says
Former FairPoint Communications executive Mike Smith is the interim president of Burlington College. Photo by Laura Krantz/VTDigger BURLINGTON — Mike Smith needs people to write checks. The dollar...
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In Profile: The many sides of Peter Shumlin
Gov. Peter Shumlin addresses a volunteer crew in Waterbury cleaning up after Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur There’s a famous psychological test where a beautiful young woman...
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David Coates: State pension and retiree health care underfunding problem worsens
Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Coates, a retired managing partner at KPMG — Vermont and a member of the Vermont Business Roundtable. He was a member of the 2010 state Commission on the...
View ArticleDavid Coates: Vermont’s retirement woes continue unchecked
Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Coates, a retired managing partner at KPMG — Vermont and a member of the Vermont Business Roundtable. He was a member of the 2010 state Commission on the...
View ArticleDavid Coates: State needs to address underfunding of state retiree benefit fund
Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Coates, a retired managing partner at KPMG — Vermont and a member of the Vermont Business Roundtable. He was a member of the 2010 state Commission on the...
View ArticleDavid Coates: GMP owes success to Mary Powell
Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Coates, a retired managing partner at KPMG — Vermont and a member of the Vermont Business Roundtable. He was a member of the 2010 state Commission on the...
View ArticleCoates & Crow: State pension reform proposals don’t go far enough
This commentary is by David Coates of Shelburne, a retired managing partner of KPMG’s Burlington office, and Mark Crow, president of Tenth Crow Creative. Recently the Pension Benefits, Design and...
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Scott demands changes to lawmakers’ pension deal
Gov. Phil Scott has said a Senate-passed pension bill doesn't go far enough. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger With roughly a month to go before adjournment, Gov. Phil Scott is ramping up pressure...
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Mike Pieciak is poised to become Vermont’s next treasurer. And then?
Mike Pieciak speaks at a Vermont Democratic Party press conference in Montpelier on Tuesday, Aug. 30. Photo by Natalie Williams/VTDigger He did not face a challenger in the Democratic primary and will...
View ArticleCoates: Vermont's expanding pension crisis
Vermont’s Expanding Pension Crisis Several months ago I wrote to Vermonters about the status of the State and Teachers Pension and Health Care Plans and the need to take action, as the path that we...
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Coates & Crow: Still no clear path to make state retirement system sustainable
This commentary is by David Coates of Colchester, a retired managing partner of KPMG’s Burlington office, and Mark Crow of Shelburne, president of Tenth Crow Creative. Just a year ago, we wrote that...
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