Title 24APPENDIX, Title 24APPENDIX: Municipal Charters

§ 13. Compensation of members of Board of Commissioners The District shall pay to the Board of Commissioners such reimbursement of expenses as it shall determine reasonable and for which authorization is provided in an approved budget.

§ 14. Voting Each member of the Board of Commissioners shall be entitled to cast one vote for every 5,000 population, or portion thereof, in the municipality that he or she represents. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a majority of the votes cast shall be required to…

§ 15. Terms of office Each commissioner and alternate commissioner shall serve for a term of two years ending May 31 and until his or her successor is duly appointed.

§ 16. Administrative personnel The Board of Commissioners may appoint a Manager and such other personnel as it deems necessary for the conduct of the business of the District, and the Board of Commissioners shall have the power to prescribe duties, fix compensation within limits …

§ 17. Election The Board of Commissioners annually shall elect from among its members a Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary, and those other officers as it deems appropriate for the conduct of its business. Upon majority vote of the Board, the Treasurer or Secretary may b…

§ 18. Bond Prior to assuming their offices, all officers shall post fidelity bonds in such amounts as shall be determined by a resolution of the Board of Commissioners. The cost of such bonds shall be borne by the District.

§ 19. Chair The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Commissioners. The Chair shall also perform all of the duties incident to the position and office.

§ 2. Purpose The District is created and shall exist for the purpose of providing for the efficient, economical, and environmentally sound management of solid waste generated by member municipalities and their residents. Initially the District will engage in a planning phase by e…

§ 20. Vice Chair During the absence of or inability of the Chair to perform his or her duties, the Vice Chair shall perform such duties.

§ 21. Vacancy During the absence or inability of the Vice Chair to render or perform his or her duties or exercise his or her powers, the Board of Commissioners shall elect from among its membership an acting Vice Chair who shall have the powers and be subject to all the responsi…

§ 22. Secretary The Secretary shall have the custody of the public records of the District and shall record all votes and proceedings of the District, including meetings of the District and meetings of the Board of Commissioners. The Secretary shall also prepare and warn all meet…

§ 23. Treasurer The Treasurer shall have the custody of the funds of the District and shall be the disbursing officer of the District. When authorized by the Board of Commissioners, the Treasurer shall sign, make, or endorse in the name of the District all checks and orders for t…

§ 24. Records The conduct of all meetings and public access thereto, and the maintaining of all records, books, and accounts of the District shall be governed by the laws of this State relating to open meetings and accessibility of public records.

§ 25. Audit The Board of Commissioners shall cause an audit of all District accounts to be performed annually by an independent professional accounting firm or a certified public accountant.

§ 26. Executive Board The Board of Commissioners shall have the authority to establish an Executive Board and grant such powers to it as it may deem necessary. The Executive Board shall consist of the Chair of the Board of Commissioners and four members of the Board of Commission…

§ 27. Committees The Board of Commissioners shall have the authority to establish any and all committees as it may deem necessary.

§ 28. Compensation of officers Officers of the District shall be paid such compensation and reimbursement of expenses as shall be determined by the Board of Commissioners and for which authorization is provided in an approved budget.

§ 29. Recall of officers An officer may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Commissioners whenever, in its judgment, the best interest of the District will be served.

§ 3. Composition The District shall consist of the Cities of Burlington, South Burlington, and Winooski, and the Towns of Charlotte, Colchester, Essex, Hinesburg, Huntington, Jericho, Milton, Richmond, St. George, Shelburne, Westford, and Williston, the Village of Essex Junction,…

§ 30. Fiscal year The fiscal year of the District shall begin the first day of July and end on the last day of June of each calendar year. The fiscal year shall constitute the budget and accounting year for the District. The accounting policies of the District shall conform to ge…

§ 31. Preparation of budget On or before December 1 in each year, the Board of Commissioners shall prepare a budget for the district for the next fiscal year, which shall include an estimate of the revenue of the District from fees and other sources, except membership assessments…

§ 32. Budget hearing The Board of Commissioners shall call a hearing of the residents of the member municipalities on or before January 31 in each year for the purpose of presenting the proposed budget and inviting discussion thereon. The hearing shall be held within the boundari…

§ 33. Adoption (a) Following the public hearing provided for in section 32 of this chapter, the Board of Commissioners shall review the proposed budget in light of comments received at the hearing, and shall thereupon approve the budget for adoption pursuant to subsection (b) of …

§ 34. Appropriations and revenues (a) Should anticipated user fees and revenues from District services and facilities not be sufficient to pay for any obligations or liabilities of the District, the Board of Commissioners shall, following adoption of the budget, apportion the sum…

§ 35. Assessment The Treasurer of the District shall immediately notify the treasurer of each member municipality of the amount of that municipality’s assessment and the member municipality shall add such assessment to its own budget and shall assess such tax as is necessary to r…

§ 36. Limitations of appropriations Actions or resolutions of the Board of Commissioners for the annual appropriations of any year shall not cease to be operative at the end of the fiscal year for which they were adopted, except as otherwise provided by the laws of the State of V…

§ 37. Indebtedness; short-term borrowing (a) The Board of Commissioners may borrow money through the issuance of notes of the District in an amount not to exceed 25 percent of the District’s current operating budget, for the purpose of paying current expenses of the District. Suc…

§ 38. Long-term indebtedness; long-term contracts (a) Submission to voters. On a petition signed by at least five percent of the voters of the District at the last general election, the proposition of incurring a bonded debt or other indebtedness to pay for public improvements or…

§ 39. Sinking fund The Board of Commissioners may establish a sinking fund, however denominated, for the retirement of bond issue or other debt, or to provide security for the payment thereof. When so established, it shall be kept intact and separate from other monies at the disp…

§ 4. Duration The District shall continue unless and until dissolved according to the procedures set forth in section 58 of this chapter.

§ 40. Capital reserve fund The Board of Commissioners may establish and provide for a capital reserve fund to pay for public improvements, replacement of worn-out buildings and equipment, and planned and unplanned major repairs of a management facility, in furtherance of the purp…

§ 41. Management fees Giving due consideration to the fact that State policy, as established in 10 V.S.A. § 6601, provides the generators of waste should pay disposal costs that reflect the real costs to society of waste management and disposal, the Board of Commissioners shall f…

§ 42. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Planning costs” means all expenses incurred by the District in the preparation of the solid waste management master plan or revisions thereto such as the costs of investigations and studies. (2) “Solid waste management costs” means …

§ 43. Special meetings The Board of Commissioners may call a special meeting of the District when it deems it necessary or prudent to do so, and shall call a special meeting of the District when action by the voters of the District is necessary under this chapter or under any app…

§ 44. Places of meetings At any special meeting of the District, voters of each member municipality shall cast their ballots at such polling places within the municipality of their residence as shall be determined by the Board of Commissioners of the District in cooperation with …

§ 45. Public hearings Not less than three nor more than 14 days prior to any special meeting called by the Board of Commissioners, at least one public hearing shall be held by the Board of Commissioners at which time the issues under consideration shall be presented and comments …

§ 46. Warnings required The Board of Commissioners of the District shall warn a special meeting of the District by filing a notice with the town clerk of each member municipality and by posting a notice in at least two public places in each municipality in the District, and in or…

§ 47. Signing of warning The original warning of any special meeting of the District shall be signed by a number of the Board of Commissioners equal to a majority of the total votes entitled to be cast and shall be filed with the District Secretary before being posted.

§ 48. Warning contents The posted notification shall include the date, time, place, and nature of the meeting. It shall, by separate articles, specifically indicate the business to be transacted and the questions to be voted upon. The warning also shall contain any article reques…

§ 49. Australian ballot The Australian ballot system shall be used at all special meetings of the District when voting is to take place.

§ 5. Powers The District shall be a body politic and corporate with the powers incident to a municipal corporation under the laws of the State of Vermont consistent with the purpose of the District, and in addition shall have the following powers: (1) To operate, cause to be oper…

§ 50. Qualifications and registration of voters All legal voters of the member municipalities shall be legal voters of the District. The member municipalities shall post and revise checklists in the same manner as for municipal meetings prior to any District meeting at which ther…

§ 51. Conduct of meeting At all special meetings of the District, the provisions of 17 V.S.A. chapter 51 regarding election officials (subchapter 1), voting machines (subchapter 3), polling places (subchapter 4), absent voters (subchapter 6), process of voting (subchapter 7), cou…

§ 52. Reconsideration or rescission of vote (a) A question considered or voted on at any special meeting of the District shall not be submitted to the voters for reconsideration or rescission, except at a subsequent special meeting duly warned for that purpose, and called by the …

§ 53. Validation of District meetings When any of the requirements as to notice or warning of a special District meeting have been omitted or not complied with, the omission or noncompliance, if the meeting and the business transacted at it is otherwise legal and within the scope…

§ 54. Priority When a special meeting of the District is called to act upon a proposition to incur bonded or other indebtedness, the special meeting procedures outlined in subchapter 4 of this chapter shall control over the meeting procedures outlined in this article in the event…