Title 24APPENDIX, Municipal Charters

§ 46. Approval or veto of ordinances by Mayor; reconsideration; item veto on appropriations If the Mayor shall approve any ordinance, or bylaw, or any resolution or vote of the City Council in respect to the business above referred to, the Mayor shall sign the same. If the Mayor …

§ 47. Ordinances to become valid at expiration of certain period if not returned If any such ordinance, bylaw, resolution, or vote shall not be returned by the Mayor of the City Council at the next meeting of said City Council after the expiration of two weeks from the time the M…

§ 48. Enumerated The City Council shall have power: (1) To establish and regulate a market and to regulate, license, tax, or prohibit the selling or peddling of meat, fish, or other provisions on foot or from vehicles about the City, except that the City Council shall not have po…

§ 49. Authority to enact The City Council may make, alter, amend, or repeal any resolutions, bylaws, regulations, and ordinances that it may deem necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers or for the well-being of said City, and which shall not be repug…

§ 5. Election to be by ballot; method of election; runoff elections All elections of the Mayor, City Councilors, school commissioners, and ward election officers shall be by ballot, using a system of ranked choice voting without a separate runoff election. The Chief Administrativ…

§ 50. City Council to establish penalty The City Council may provide a penalty for the violation of any ordinance, regulation, or bylaw not to exceed $500.00. Each day the violation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense. If no penalty shall be fixed for the v…

§ 501. City of Burlington utility facilities; taxation of 32 V.S.A. § 3659 shall not apply to land, buildings, and other facilities of the City of Burlington used for the generation of electric energy. Such land, buildings, and facilities owned by the City of Burlington and situa…

§ 506. Definitions The following terms when used in this article shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings: (1) “Bonds” means any bonds, notes, or other obligations of the City issued pursuant to this article. (2) “City” means the City of Burlingto…

§ 507. Bonds; issuance of The City is hereby authorized and empowered to issue bonds, from time to time, for the purpose of financing the cost of any improvement to the waterworks or wastewater system. The bonds and the interest thereon shall be payable solely and exclusively fro…

§ 508. Refunding The City, upon the approval of the Board of Public Works Commissioners and the City Council, may issue refunding bonds for the purpose of paying any of its bonds issued hereunder at maturity or upon acceleration or redemption. No affirmative vote of the registere…

§ 51. Ordinance enforcement (a) The violation of an ordinance, regulation, or bylaw adopted by the City, including zoning and subdivision bylaws adopted pursuant to 24 V.S.A. chapter 117, as the same may be amended from time to time, may be prosecuted as a criminal or civil actio…

§ 52. Court authorized to order abatement In any prosecution for a nuisance arising under this charter or under any lawful ordinance, regulation, or bylaw resulting in a judgment or conviction, the court before which said judgment or conviction shall be had shall order the nuisan…

§ 54. Offenders may be liable in damages A person violating any ordinance, regulation, or bylaw of said City shall be liable in damages to said City or to the person who shall sustain damage as the direct result of said violation; such damages may be recovered in an action declar…

§ 55. City Council may authorize sale or lease The City Council shall have the exclusive power to authorize sale or lease of any real or personal estate belonging to said City, and all conveyances, grants, or leases of any such real estate shall be signed by the Mayor and sealed …

§ 56. Council to have powers conferred by statute regarding public burial grounds In establishing or enlarging public burial grounds within said City, the City Council shall have the same power as is conferred by the general laws of the State upon selectboards, and shall proceed …

§ 57. Manner of taking land for reservoirs, aqueducts, water pipes, etc In taking lands for the purpose of establishing and maintaining reservoirs, aqueducts, water pipes, hydrants, or any other apparatus necessary for such purposes, the City Council shall proceed in the same man…

§ 58. Council to issue citation that land is to be taken; service In giving notice to all persons owning or interested in any lands to be taken for such purposes, the City Council shall issue its citation, signed by the Mayor or its Chief Administrative Officer; said citation sha…

§ 59. Refunding bonds; Council may authorize issuance of bonds The City Council may authorize the issuance by said City of refunding bonds for the purpose of paying any of its bonds issued hereunder at maturity or upon acceleration or redemption.

§ 6. Requirements generally (a) All warnings for meetings for the election of City or ward officers, and for general meetings of all the legal voters of said City, for any purpose, shall be issued by the Mayor and published in the manner and for the length of time designated in 1…

§ 60. Same-issuance prior to maturity or redemption; amounts; issuance, maturities, security, rights of owners, and rights, duties, and obligations of City; general laws relating to refunding of municipal bonds and indebtedness inapplicable Any refunding bonds or notes may be iss…

§ 61. Bonds to be signed and contain statement that they conform to applicable provisions Such notes or bonds so authorized shall be signed by the Mayor and countersigned by the Treasurer of said City, and if interest coupons are attached thereto, they shall be signed by the Trea…

§ 62. Council; School Board; not to pledge credit of City; exceptions (a) Except as otherwise provided, the credit of the City, except by temporary loans not exceeding during any quarter of any fiscal year 25 percent of the taxes assessed upon the entire grand list for the fiscal…

§ 63. Council may pledge credit of City when authorized by voters to do so (a) Whenever the legal voters of said City, by two-thirds vote of all voters present and voting on the question at any special or annual City meeting duly warned for the purpose, or, if the purpose shall b…

§ 64. State law not applicable to section 63 None of the provisions, restrictions, or limitations of chapter 167 of the Vermont Statutes, Revision of 1947, or of amendments and additions thereto, or of the general laws of the State, except the bonding limit prescribed by law, sha…

§ 64a. Council authorized to erect sewage disposal plant and issue bonds therefore The City Council may authorize the erection of a sewage disposal plant for the treatment of sewage emptying directly into Lake Champlain, including buildings and equipment, laboratory equipment and…

§ 64b. Revenue bonds authorized (a) The following terms when used in this section shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings: (1) The term “revenue producing facility” shall mean any building, activity, function, or service that any executive office…

§ 65. Source of funds for appropriations; operating expenses for departments; creation of special funds (a) All money received from taxation, assessments, fines, and other lawful sources, except revenues and income of the Water, Waste Water/Solid Waste, and Traffic Divisions of t…

§ 66. Annual school appropriations The City Council shall annually appropriate for the use of schools such sum as shall be recommended by the Board of School Commissioners within the limitations of section 102 of this charter. In addition, the City Council shall also annually app…

§ 67. Appropriations for park and recreation purposes The City Council shall annually appropriate a reasonable amount of money, not less than two cents on each dollar of the grand list, to be expended for the purpose of providing necessary funds for the care and improvement of pa…

§ 68. Authorized expenditures No money shall be paid out of the City Treasury unless an approved budgetary authorization for such expenditure exists, sufficient unexpended funds remain in such budgetary line item, and a properly executed voucher requesting such expenditure is in …

§ 69. Fiscal year; reports required (a)(1) The fiscal year of the City shall begin on the first day of July in one year and end on the 30th day of June in the next year. A full record of the revenues and expenditures of all City departments shall be kept; and a clear statement of…

§ 7. Age and residence requirements Every citizen of this State not less than 18 years of age who has taken the Freeman’s (Voter’s) Oath, who resides in said City and who has registered to vote with the Board for Registration of Voters no later than the deadline established by Ve…

§ 70. Excess expenditures prohibited; assessments for street improvements credited to Streets Division of the Public Works Department (a) No superintendent, board, or commission member or corresponding executive officer of any City department, with the exception of the Health, Po…

§ 71. Approval of property owners required The established name of any street in the City shall not be changed by the City Council except upon the approval in writing of the owners of the greater part of all property fronting on such street.

§ 8. Person to reside in ward or City district if casting ballot for particular local officers or local public questions A legal voter may cast a ballot for local officers and local public questions specific to a ward or City district only if that legal voter resides in that ward…

§ 81. Tax classification; repeal of inventory tax (a) Except for the property of utilities subject to the provisions of 30 V.S.A. chapter 3, all personal and real property set out in the grand list that is not used as residential property, farmland, and vacant land zoned “recreat…

§ 83. Preparation; contents (a) Assessors shall set all taxable real estate in the property grand list only to the last owner thereof, of record, on the first day of April in each year, as shown by an instrument of conveyance recorded in the land records of the City or left and f…

§ 84. Composition of books The books provided for such property grand list shall contain, in addition to the columns necessary to contain the particulars mentioned in the preceding section, two other columns, which shall be designated in said books by the words “Corrected Valuati…

§ 85. Arrangement of information in books The assessors shall arrange in alphabetical order in the books provided and to be used for such property grand list and containing the two columns marked “Corrected Valuation” as hereinbefore provided, the names of all taxpayers of said C…

§ 86. Summary of assessed valuations to be made and constitute an abstract The assessors shall endorse on each individual list, a summary of the assessed valuation of the real estate and of the assessed valuation of the personal property specified in the list, after appraising al…

§ 87. Notice that abstract completed to be given; meetings of assessors Said assessors shall, at the same time, sign and file in their office, a notice that the abstracts of individual lists are completed and filed in their office and that the property grand list of said City and…

§ 88. Abstracts and certificate to be completed by May fifth Said abstracts of individual lists and said certificate and notice shall be completed and lodged in the office of said assessors on or before the fifth day of May in each year.

§ 89. Notice of changes and that abstracts and lists are open for inspection to be filed Notice signed by said assessors shall be posted in one public place in each ward in said City on or before the fifth day of May in each year and published three times in one or more daily new…

§ 8a. Requirements for legal resident voters who are not citizens (a) Notwithstanding sections 7 and 8 of this charter and 17 V.S.A. chapter 43, a legal resident who is not a citizen of the United States shall be a legal voter at a local City of Burlington or Burlington School Di…

§ 9. Adopted The penalties set forth in Vermont Statutes Annotated shall be applicable for illegal voting at any City or ward or City district election. (Amended 2013, No. M-15 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. March 3, 2015.)

§ 90. Aggrieved persons permitted to appear before assessors; preliminary review Any person who feels aggrieved by the action of said assessors, and that desires to be heard by them shall appear before them within the time hereinbefore prescribed for said hearing. The assessors s…