Title 24APPENDIX, Title 24APPENDIX: Municipal Charters

§ 207. Record of proceedings (a) It shall be the duty of the Selectboard to keep an official record of its proceedings and policies, which shall be open for public inspection and published on the Town’s website. (b) The minutes of each meeting shall be approved by the Selectboard…

§ 208. Appointments (a) The Selectboard shall appoint the members of the following permanent commissions of the Town of Colchester: (1) Development Review Board; (2) Planning Commission; (3) Cemetery Advisory Committee. (b) The Selectboard may appoint such additional commissions …

§ 209. Jurisdiction over other officers or employees Neither the Selectboard nor any of its members shall direct or request the appointment by another officer or employee of the Town of any person to office or employment, or any person’s suspension or removal therefrom, or in any…

§ 210. Compensation of Selectboard; appointees (a) Compensation paid to the Selectboard shall be set by the voters at the annual meeting. (b) The Selectboard shall fix the compensation of all officers and employees, except as otherwise provided in this charter. All fees payable t…

§ 211. Powers and duties (a) The members of the Selectboard shall constitute the legislative body of the Town of Colchester for all purposes required by statute and, except as otherwise herein specifically provided, shall have all the powers and authority given to and perform all…

§ 301. Application of general laws Provisions of the laws of the State of Vermont relating to the qualifications of voters, the manner of voting, the duties of election officers, and all other particulars respective to preparation for, conduct, and management of elections, so far…

§ 302. Time of holding (a) An annual Town meeting for the consideration of the budget and other Town business shall be held on the first Tuesday in March unless otherwise legally warned by the Selectboard. However, all business that may be decided without Australian ballot shall …

§ 303. Eligible voters A means for the identification and designation of the eligible voters in Town meeting shall be devised and enforced by the Board of Civil Authority.

§ 304. Budget An annual Town budget exclusive of school district budget shall become effective after adoption at Town meeting by the vote of the majority of those eligible to vote present at such meeting. After such budget has been adopted, the Selectboard may make emergency appr…

§ 305. Overrule of ordinances All ordinances shall be subject to overrule by a special Town meeting, as follows; if, within 20 days after final passage by the Selectboard of any such ordinance, a petition signed by voters of the Town not less in number than 10 percent of the larg…

§ 306. Petition for enactment of ordinance; special meeting (a) Subject to the provisions of section 305 of this charter, voters of the Town may at any time petition in the same manner as in section 305 for the enactment of any proposed lawful ordinance by filing such petition, i…

§ 401. Appointment The Selectboard shall appoint a Town Manager pursuant to 24 V.S.A. chapter 37. (Amended 2015, No. M-1, § 2, eff. Jan. 27, 2015; 2017, No. M-5, § 2, eff. May 17, 2017.)

§ 402. Qualifications The Town Manager shall be chosen solely on the basis of executive and administrative and professional qualifications. (Amended 2015, No. M-1, § 2, eff. Jan. 27, 2015.)

§ 403. Oath Before entering upon official duties, the Town Manager shall be sworn to the faithful performance of those duties by the Town Clerk. (Amended 2015, No. M-1, § 2, eff. Jan. 27, 2015.)

§ 404. Powers and duties (a) The Town Manager shall carry out the policies laid down by the Selectboard and to that end the Town Manager shall be the Chief Executive Officer and the head of the administrative branch of the Town government and shall be responsible to the Selectboa…

§ 405. Compensation The Town Manager shall receive such pay as may be fixed by the Selectboard, subject to the provisions of this charter. (Amended 2015, No. M-1, § 2, eff. Jan. 27, 2015.)

§ 406. Removal (a) On 90 days’ notice, the Town Manager shall be removed by a majority of the entire Selectboard so voting upon a finding of cause for removal. The Town Manager may be suspended during this period, but the Town Manager’s pay shall continue until removal. (b) The S…

§ 501. Department of Assessment There shall be established a Department of Assessment headed by a professionally qualified real estate appraiser who shall be appointed by the Town Manager with the approval of the Selectboard. The three elected listers shall comprise a Board of As…

§ 502. Appraisal of property The Department of Assessment shall appraise all real property for the purpose of establishing the grand list. Appraisals shall be reviewed periodically and updated. Technically qualified individuals or firms may be employed as needed.

§ 503. Duties (a) The Department of Assessment 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 or the board of listers under the laws of the State of V…

§ 504. Appeal If a property owner is dissatisfied with the assessment of the owner’s property, the property owner may proceed first to a grievance hearing before the Board of Assessment, thence secondly to a Board of Civil Authority meeting, and further a subsequent appeal to the…

§ 601. Fiscal year The fiscal year of the Town and Town School District shall begin the first day of July and end on the 30th day of June of the next calendar year. The fiscal year shall constitute the budget and accounting year as used in this charter.

§ 602. Preparation and submission (a) The Town Manager, at least 75 days before the annual Town meeting or at such previous time as the Town Manager may be directed by the Selectboard, shall submit to the Selectboard a budget containing: (1) an estimate of the financial condition…

§ 603. Town meeting and budget The budget shall be approved or rejected by the legal voters by Australian ballot at the annual Town meeting or a special Town meeting. In the event of rejection of the budget by the legal voters, within 30 days of a vote rejecting the budget, the S…

§ 604. Appropriation The effective date of the budget shall be July 1 of each year. The budgeted accounts and their corresponding dollar amounts shall be those approved by the legal voters under section 603 of this charter.

§ 605. Amount to be raised by taxation Upon passage of the budget by the annual Town meeting, the amounts stated therein as the amount to be raised by property taxes shall constitute a determination of the amount of the levy for the purposes of the Town in the corresponding tax y…

§ 606. Departmental budget The budget for a department shall include all proposed expenditures as provided in the overall budget adopted at Town meeting. Town department heads shall not exceed expenditures as approved by voters, or as altered by the Selectboard or Town Manager, a…

§ 607. Transfers of appropriation The Town Manager may at any time transfer an unencumbered appropriation balance or portion thereof between general classification of expenditures with an office, agency, or department. The Selectboard shall be notified in writing of all such inte…

§ 608. Capital budgeting for voter approved funding Capital budgets funded through voter approved multi-year capital plans, voter approved agreements, voter approved debt, or impact fees adopted in accordance with 24 V.S.A. chapter 131 shall follow the process for approval outlin…

§ 701. Taxes on real and personal property Taxes on real and personal property shall be paid in three equal payments, one-third due and payable on or before August 15, one-third due and payable on or before November 15, and one-third due and payable on or before March 15 of each …

§ 702. Penalty; interest; Treasurer’s powers (a) Penalty. Any installment not paid by the due dates established in section 701 of this charter shall be delinquent and there shall immediately be added to the amount due a penalty charge for late payment equivalent to five percent o…

§ 703. Local sales, rooms, and meals and alcohol beverages tax (a) Upon resolution of the Selectboard, or upon receipt of a petition submitted by five percent of the registered voters of the Town, at an annual or special meeting warned for the purpose by a majority of those prese…

§ 801. Appointment and removal (a) All Town employees, including the Zoning Administrator, not elected by the voters shall be appointed, supervised, and removed by the Town Manager unless otherwise specified in this charter. There shall be no discrimination in employment on accou…

§ 802. Personnel rules and regulations (a) The Town Manager or the Town Manager’s appointee shall be the Personnel Director. The Town Manager shall prepare personnel rules and regulations protecting the interest of the Town and of the employees. These rules and regulations must b…

§ 803. Prohibitions No person in the service of the Town may either directly or indirectly give, render, pay, or receive any service or other valuable thing for or on account of or in connection with any appointment, proposed appointment, promotion, or proposed promotion.

§ 901. Ethical conduct Every officer, elected official, employee, or appointee in the service of the Town shall abide by standards of ethical conduct established by the Town and shall not hold investments or render services that conflict with or impair the proper discharge of tha…

§ 902. Conflict of interest policy The Selectboard shall adopt a policy regarding ethics and conflict of interest and the means to adjudicate any potential or reported conflicts. This policy shall be published on the Town’s website and provided to and signed by every officer, ele…

§ 114G Local option tax (a) Upon resolution of the Selectboard, the voters of the Town may, by a majority vote of those voting by Australian ballot, assess a one percent rooms tax. (b) Any local option tax imposed under this section shall be collected and administered, and may be…

§ 1 Statement of purpose (a) Under the authority granted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, this charter modifies the organization and functioning of local Town government in the Town of East Montpelier, Vermont. (b) Except when changed by the provisions of this cha…

§ 101. Annual and special meetings All annual and special meetings of the Town of Danville shall be called and warned in the manner provided by the laws of the State. All voting on the Town budget and the highway budget at all annual and special meetings shall be by Australian ba…

§ 2 Abolished offices (a) The offices of Town Grand Juror; Town Agent; Trustees of Public Funds; Fence Viewer; Weigher of Coal; and Inspector of Lumber, Shingles, and Wood are abolished. (b) The functions of Town Grand Juror, Town Agent, and Trustees of Public Funds are assigned …

§ 3 Town Treasurer (a) The Selectboard shall appoint a Town Treasurer pursuant to section 8 of this charter. The appointee shall be competent in the keeping of records, investments, and accounting. The person chosen need not be a resident or qualified voter of the Town. (b) If a …

§ 4 Zoning Administrator A Zoning Administrator shall be nominated by the Planning Commission and appointed by the Selectboard. (Added 2013, No. M-13 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 2, 2014; amended 2017, No. M-12, § 2, eff. June 5, 2017.)

§ 5 Town Clerk (a) The Selectboard shall appoint a Town Clerk pursuant to section 8 of this charter. The appointee shall have strong interpersonal skills and shall be competent in the keeping of records. The person chosen need not be a resident of the Town; preference shall be gi…

§ 6 Collector of Current Taxes and Collector of Delinquent Taxes (a) The Selectboard shall appoint a Collector of Current Taxes and a Collector of Delinquent Taxes. The same person, who may be a current Town employee, may be appointed to both positions. The appointees shall have …

§ 7 Appointed officers; terms of office; duties The Town Treasurer and his or her assistant, the Zoning Administrator, the Town Clerk and his or her assistant, the Collector of Current Taxes, and the Collector of Delinquent Taxes shall: (1) Be employees of the Town and shall be a…