Title 24APPENDIX, Title 24APPENDIX: Municipal Charters

§ 120. Enumerated There shall be maintained in said City a Board of Assessors consisting of the City Assessor and two legal voters of said City; a Board of Tax Appeals normally consisting of seven legal voters of said City; a Board of Public Works Commissioners consisting of seve…

§ 120a. Merger of boards Notwithstanding section 120 of this charter, the Mayor shall have power and authority, when authorized by resolution of the City Council, to effect a merger of any one or more of the boards of commissioners enumerated in section 120, or of any other City …

§ 122. Enumerated (a) On the first Monday in June 1998, the Mayor shall appoint a City Assessor and a Director of the Human Resources Department for a one-year term commencing July 1, 1998. Commencing on the first Monday in June 1999, and biannually thereafter, the Mayor shall ap…

§ 124. Chair; clerk, records Each of the boards and commissions named in section 120 of this charter shall organize by the election of a chair and by the appointment of a clerk and, with the exception of the Board of Assessors and the Board of Tax Appeals, the clerk shall keep a …

§ 125. Mayor and City Councilors (a) Term of Mayor. On the first Tuesday in March 2003 and triennially thereafter, the legal voters of the City shall, from among the legal voters thereof, elect a Mayor who shall hold office for the term of three years from the first Monday in Apr…

§ 126. Commissioners and Board of Tax Appeals (a) Except as specified in section 179 of this charter with respect to the library commissioner elected from the library staff, each public works commissioner, cemetery commissioner, police commissioner, fire commissioner, light commi…

§ 127. Department heads and other officers All officers whose terms of office are not herein or by general law otherwise specified, shall, except as herein otherwise provided, hold their offices for the specified terms from the first day of July following their appointment, and u…

§ 128. Manner of filling (a) In case of a vacancy in the Office of Mayor, occasioned by death, resignation, removal from said City, permanent inability to serve, failure to elect, or disqualification of the person chosen, the President of the City Council shall act as Mayor until…

§ 129. Appointing body or person has power to remove The City Council with Mayor presiding shall have power, for such causes of incapacity, negligence, or bad conduct as to it shall seem sufficient, to suspend or remove from any office any City officer who may be appointed by the…

§ 13. Vacancies to be filled by City Council In case of a vacancy in any ward office occasioned by death, removal from the ward or City, resignation, inability to serve, failure to elect, or other cause, the same shall be filled by the City Council.

§ 130. Manner of filling vacancy and residency requirement (a) In case of a vacancy for any cause in any office referred to in section 129 of this charter, such vacancy shall be filled in the manner herein provided for appointment thereto, but only for the remaining months of the…

§ 131. Dual positions prohibited No City councilor may serve as a City employee or as a commissioner of a City department. However, a City councilor may be appointed to serve as a member of a regional board such as the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, the Chittende…

§ 132. Mayor, City Council, and other City officials (a)(1) The Mayor shall receive such annual compensation as shall be voted by the City Council, but the same shall not be less than $12,000.00 per year. (2) Each member of the City Council, beginning on July 1, 2017 and thereaft…

§ 133. Conflicts of interest (a) No City officer shall participate in any fashion or cast a vote on any matter in which either a direct or indirect conflict of interest is present. Nor shall a City officer participate or vote on any question in which such participation or vote wo…

§ 134. Required of Treasurer and other officers handling City funds The Treasurer and all other City officers who receive or disburse any of the funds of the City shall annually, before entering upon the duties of their office, give bonds to the City in amount satisfactory to the…

§ 135. City Council to approve surety company; costs to be paid by City All City officers from whom bonds are required shall furnish bonds of a surety company satisfactory to the City Council. The Chief Administrative Officer shall pay the cost of such bonds from the money approp…

§ 136. Officer to be removed from neglect to give bond after notice In case of the neglect of any officer to give bonds as above specified after 10 days’ notice from the City Council that he or she is required so to do, his or her office shall thereupon become vacant and the vaca…

§ 137. Form All officers of the City shall, before assuming office, take, subscribe, and file with the City Clerk the following oath: “I solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office (duty or trust), of ______ of the City of Burlington to the best of my judgment and ab…

§ 138. Duties of Chief Administrative Officer generally (a) The Chief Administrative Officer shall, subject to the authority of the Mayor as Chief Executive Officer, have direct responsibility for those administrative, financial, and record keeping responsibilities that are not a…

§ 139. Public records to remain in Chief Administrative Officer’s office; Council may regulate removal Such records shall not be taken out of or away from said Chief Administrative Officer’s office except upon the order or process of a court of competent jurisdiction; but said Ci…

§ 14. List of voters to be prepared; posting Preceding each annual or special City or ward or City district election to be held in said City, it shall be the duty of the Board for Registration of Voters to prepare full and complete lists of the voters in the respective wards or C…

§ 140. Certified copies of records to be made Said Chief Administrative Officer shall, on being tendered therefor the fees allowed town clerks under the law of this State for similar services, and to be accounted for and paid to the Treasury for City purposes, as provided in the …

§ 141. Certification that notices, ordinances, etc., have been posted required Whenever any notice signed by the Mayor, City Council, or any City officer or officers, or any advertisement, ordinance, resolution, or bylaw shall have been published in some newspaper or newspapers o…

§ 142. Assistants An assistant may be designated by the Chief Administrative Officer to make duly certified copies of any records, papers, or documents in the same manner as the Chief Administrative Officer, without regard to the absence or disability of the Chief Administrative …

§ 144. Chief Administrative Officer to keep record of notes and bonds issued The Chief Administrative Officer shall keep a record of every note or bond issued under the provisions of this charter, therein stating the number and the denomination of each note or bond, when and wher…

§ 145. Record of school bonds to be kept The Chief Administrative Officer shall keep a record of all school bonds, the issuance, payment, and discharge thereof, as hereinbefore provided for other bonds issued by said City.

§ 146. Redeemed bonds, notes, and interest coupons to be kept When old notes or bonds and any interest coupons are taken up by payment thereof, by exchange or by sale of the new notes or bonds, the Chief Administrative Officer shall keep a record of the same and such old notes or…

§ 147. Chief Administrative Officer to keep separate account of school appropriations The Chief Administrative Officer shall keep a separate account of all monies appropriated for the use of schools, which money shall consist of the income accruing in every legal way for the use …

§ 148. Duties The City Attorney shall be corporation counsel and shall prosecute and defend in behalf of said City all suits in which said City is interested and shall prosecute all violations of the City ordinances and bylaws except when absent from City or disqualified or unabl…

§ 149. Subject to same penalties as State’s Attorneys The City Attorney and assistant City attorney shall be subject to all and the same penalties imposed by the law of this State upon State’s Attorneys for any neglect or violation of official duty.

§ 15. Notice of meeting to alter or correct list required Whenever any checklist of voters shall be posted in said City, a notice shall be written or printed thereon, signed by a majority of said Board for Registration of Voters, setting forth the time and place at which said Boa…

§ 150. Duties; liabilities; etc The Board of Assessors shall have the same powers, discharge the same duties, proceed in the discharge thereof in the same manner, and be subject to the same liabilities as are prescribed for listers, except as herein otherwise provided. They shall…

§ 151. Powers; duties; liabilities; etc The City Grand Juror shall have the same powers, perform the same duties, and incur the same liabilities as grand jurors in towns, and shall be entitled to such salary as the City Council may vote, and as the City Attorney may request, a Ci…

§ 152. Powers and duties The City Constable shall have the same powers, perform the same duties, and be under the same liabilities as are prescribed by the laws of this State for constables of towns, and the said Constable shall have the same powers as sheriffs in suppressing rio…

§ 153. Duties The City Engineer and Surveyor shall be assigned to the Public Works Department. He or she shall make all public surveys of the streets and public grounds of said City, and shall perform such other services as may be required by the Director of Public Works.

§ 154. Composition The Board of Finance shall be constituted as follows: The Mayor shall, ex officio, be Chair of said Board and together with the President of the City Council, and three additional members of the City Council who shall be elected at the first meeting of the City…

§ 155. Board to act as board of audit; uniform system to be adopted The Board of Finance shall act as a board of audit. They shall establish, and each department shall adopt, such systems of accounting and auditing for each department of the City government, as will give uniform …

§ 156. Monthly reports; annual audit The Board of Finance shall provide for regular monthly reports to be made by each department to the City Council; they shall also provide for the annual auditing of the books of each department, by a competent professional auditor, and may als…

§ 157. Preparation and submission of budget The Mayor shall, with the assistance of the other members of the Board of Finance, annually prepare an estimate of the necessary appropriations to cover the expenses of each department and branch of the City government for the next fisc…

§ 158. Sinking Fund abolished The General Sinking Fund of the City, so-called, is hereby abolished and all monies or funds currently deposited in such Sinking Fund shall be appropriated in accordance with the requirements of sections 65 and 157 of this charter.

§ 159. Selection of official depositary The Board of Finance shall, in the month of June 1994, and not less frequently than once every three years thereafter, procure from chartered banks of known reliability and sufficient capital their offers to act as depositary for the City m…

§ 16. Additions or corrections permitted The Board for Registration of Voters shall, pursuant to the notice set forth in section 15 of this charter, meet to make additions to, or alterations and corrections in, the list required by section 14 of this charter.

§ 160. Care and control of public buildings The Board of Finance shall also have the care and control of all public buildings not specifically in charge of any other department of the City under this chapter or ordinance or resolution of the City Council. They shall appoint or em…

§ 161. Repairs to public buildings The Board of Finance may cause such repairs or enlargements to be made to said buildings from time to time as the interests of the City may require; provided, however, that when the estimated cost of any such repairs or enlargements exceeds the …

§ 162. Board authorized to rent portions of public buildings The Board of Finance may rent such portion of the public buildings to such public officers or private persons as to them shall seem for the best interests of the City; provided, however, that rentals for a period of mor…

§ 163. Composition (a) The Board of School Commissioners of said City shall be composed of 12 school commissioners. One commissioner from Ward One through Eight inclusive and one commissioner from each of the four districts shall be elected as hereinbefore and hereinafter provide…