Title 24APPENDIX, Title 24APPENDIX: Municipal Charters

§ 105. Ordinances—Subject matter (a) The general grant of ordinance promulgating authority in section 104 shall include the authority: (1) To adopt and enforce ordinances relating to making and installation of local improvements, including curbs, sidewalks, storm drains, sewers, …

§ 106. Ordinances; enforcement; adoption (a) The Council may provide penalties for the breach of any ordinance authorized by general law or this charter; may prosecute any person violating the same through the City Attorney, Grand Juror, or police officers who for such purposes s…

§ 107. Ordinances; adoption process (a) Every ordinance shall be introduced in writing. The enacting clause of all ordinances shall be “The Council of the City of Barre hereby ordains...”. If the Council passes the proposed ordinance upon first reading, it shall cause it to be pu…

§ 108. Filing of ordinances The City Clerk shall keep in the Clerk’s office a book of ordinances that shall contain each ordinance finally passed by the Council together with a complete index of the ordinances according to the subject matter.

§ 109. Reservation of powers to the City Nothing in this charter shall be so construed as in any way to limit the powers and functions conferred upon the City of Barre and the Council by general or special enactments in force or effect or hereafter enacted, and the powers and fun…

§ 110. Fiscal year The fiscal year of the City shall begin on the first day of July of each calendar year. The fiscal year shall constitute the budget and accounting year as used in this charter. (Added 2013, No. M-5, § 2, eff. May 13, 2013; amended 2025, No. M-1, § 2, eff. May 1…

§ 111. Bonding of City officials The Mayor, councilors, members of the Police Department, City Manager, Finance Director, Superintendent of Public Works, Tax Collector, Clerk, and Treasurer shall annually be bonded by the City for the faithful discharge of their respective duties…

§ 112. Amendment of charter This charter may be amended in the manner provided for by the laws of the State of Vermont for amendment of municipal charters. (Added 2013, No. M-5, § 2, eff. May 13, 2013.)

§ 201. Application of general laws Provisions of the laws of the State of Vermont, relating to the qualifications of elections, the manner of voting, the duties of electing officers, and all other particulars respective to the preparation for, conducting, and management of electi…

§ 202. Time of elections and meetings (a) The annual City meeting of the City for the election of officers, the voting of budgets, and any other business included in the warnings for the meeting, shall be held on the second Tuesday in May, unless otherwise legally warned by the C…

§ 203. Special City meetings Special City meetings shall be called in the manner provided by the laws of the State, and the voting on all questions shall be by the Australian ballot system. (Amended 2025, No. M-1, § 2, eff. May 1, 2025.)

§ 204. Polling places All annual and special elections and meetings shall be held at a central polling place in the City to be designated by the Council and which location is to be set forth in the warning. The conduct of said elections and meetings shall conform where applicable…

§ 205. Officers elected (a)(1) The legal voters shall elect biennially a Mayor and a Clerk. (2) Annually, the legal voters of each ward shall elect from among the legal voters of their respective wards one councilor for a term of two years. (3) [Repealed.] (b) [Repealed.] (Amende…

§ 206. Vacancies (a) In case of vacancy of any elected municipal City officer, except a councilor, occasioned by death, removal from the City, resignation, or inability to serve, such vacancy, unless herein otherwise provided, shall be filled by appointment by the City Council un…

§ 207. Voting on request of the City Manager (a) Annually, on the second Tuesday in May, the legal voters of the City shall meet to vote on the requests of the City Manager. (b) If, at the annual meeting, the voters disapprove the request of the City Manager, the Mayor, or in his…

§ 301. Governing body The City shall be governed by an elected Council and by an appointed City Manager and by such other officers and employees as may be duly appointed pursuant to this charter, City ordinances, or general laws of the State of Vermont. (1) The City Council shall…

§ 302. Regular meetings; meetings to be public; executive session The City Council shall meet at least twice monthly on Tuesdays, unless the Council approves an alternative day. All meetings of the City Council, whether regular or special meetings, shall be public. Executive sess…

§ 303. Special meetings; quorum Special meetings of the City Council may be called at any time by the Mayor. They may also be called by the Clerk on a petition signed by a majority of the City Council and filed with the Clerk. Notice of special meetings shall be served on the May…

§ 304. Role of Council in relation to administrative service appointment of committees It is the intention of this charter that the City Council shall act in matters as a body. The Council shall deal with the administrative service solely through the Manager and shall not give or…

§ 305. Creation or continuation of departments, boards, offices The City Council shall continue or create and determine and define the powers and duties of such executive and administrative departments, boards, and offices, in addition to those provided for herein, as it may deem…

§ 306. Records of proceedings (a) It shall be the duty of the City Council to keep an official record of its proceedings that shall be open for public inspection. The agenda for the regular Council meeting shall be published in a local newspaper no later than three days preceding…

§ 307. Powers of City; policy matters; appointment of certain officers All powers of the City and the determination of all matters of policy shall be vested in the City Council except as otherwise provided by this charter or by general law. The City Council shall annually appoint…

§ 309. Source of appropriations, expenditures The money raised from taxation, assessments, fines, and other lawful sources shall constitute the sum from which appropriations, expenditures, and payments are to be made by the authority of the City Council.

§ 311. Business or contracts between City and City officials or employees No City official or employee shall be interested in any contract with the City, furnish any material, or perform any labor, except in the discharge of the official’s or employee’s official duties or as allo…

§ 312. Audits (a) The City Council shall prior to the close of each financial year employ by contract a public accountant to examine the financial statements of the funds of the City. (b) Annual examination of the financial statements shall be conducted in accordance with general…

§ 313. Sale or lease of City property The City Council may authorize the sale or lease of any real or personal estate belonging to the City, and all conveyances, grants, or leases of such real estate shall be signed by the Mayor.

§ 314. Authority to borrow money, issue bonds, pledge credits The City Council shall have the authority to borrow money, issue its bonds or notes, and pledge the credit of the City pursuant to provisions of the Vermont Statutes Annotated as they govern borrowing for towns and mun…

§ 315. Compensation of City officials Compensation of Mayor, councilors, and other appointees and City officers: (1) The Mayor and councilors shall receive compensation in an amount as may be voted by the voters of the City at a meeting duly warned for said purpose. (2) The City …

§ 316. Expenditures No money shall be paid except on warrant by the Treasurer or a designated deputy and authorized by the City Council. (Amended 1999, No. M-5, § 4, eff. May 5, 1999.)

§ 317. Special assessments The City Council may make special assessments for the purchase, construction, repair, reconstruction, or extension of a water system, sewage system, sidewalk, or any other public improvement that is to benefit a limited area of a municipality to be serv…

§ 318. Sidewalks (a) Whenever a petition in writing shall be presented to the City Council, signed by the owner or owners of two-thirds of the frontage on any street, lane, or alley, or any portion thereof in the City asking that such street, lane, alley, or portion thereof be cu…

§ 319. Sewers The City Council is authorized subject to ordinances of the City Council to establish, construct, or maintain public sewers in the City; and it may assess according to frontage of the owners of land or buildings adjoining or abutting said streets or any portion ther…

§ 320. Authority to take land The City Council is also authorized and empowered to establish, construct, and maintain public sewers in and through the lands of individuals and corporations, on making compensation for lands taken therefor, in the same manner as provided by law in …

§ 321. Collection of assessments; liens Special assessments shall constitute a lien on the property against which the assessment is made in the same manner and to the same extent as taxes assessed on the grand list of a municipality, and all procedures and remedies for the collec…

§ 322. Tax stabilization contract (a) The City Council shall have the authority to enter into a contract with owners, lessees, bailees, or operators of agricultural, industrial, residential, or commercial real property for the purpose of: (1) fixing and maintaining the valuation …

§ 401. Appointment and qualifications The City Manager shall be appointed annually on the first day of July by the Council solely on the basis of his or her executive and administrative qualifications with special reference to his or her actual experience in, or knowledge of, acc…

§ 402. Removal (a) On 90 days’ notice, the Manager may be removed without cause by a majority of the Council so voting. He or she may be suspended during this period, but his or her pay shall continue until his or her removal. (b) Notwithstanding the above, the Council may adopt …

§ 403. Manager’s absence The City Manager may designate a qualified administrative officer of the municipality to perform his or her duties during his or her temporary absence or disability. In the event of his or her failure to make such designation, the Council may, by resoluti…

§ 404. Duties and responsibilities The City Manager shall: (1) be the chief administrative official of the City; (2) enforce all laws and ordinances of the City; (3) appoint and remove all department heads and all other officers, subordinates, and assistants and fix their salary …

§ 405. Council policy The City Manager shall be responsible to the Council for carrying out all policies established by it and for the proper administration of all affairs of the City within the jurisdiction of the Council.

§ 406. Budget The City Manager shall prepare his or her recommended budget for the next fiscal year and present the same to the City Council not later than 45 days prior to the annual meeting date each year. At the same time, the City Manager shall submit his or her request for a…

§ 406a. Capital improvement plan (a) Preparation and submission. The Manager, after consultation with department heads, shall submit a proposed five-year capital improvement plan to the council at least three months prior to the annual meeting. (b) Contents. The capital expenditu…

§ 407. Appointments (a) Any provision of general law conferring the appointing power or other power upon the Mayor, the Mayor and City Council, the City Council, or other executive heads of a municipality shall be construed as meaning the City Manager and the appointments or powe…

§ 408. Streets It shall be the duty of the City Manager to see that all streets and highways laid out and established in the City are properly constructed and maintained.

§ 409. Duties (a) The Mayor shall be chief conservator of the peace and safety of the City and, as such, is empowered to control and direct the police force, in case of riot, insurrection, or other emergency, when he or she may take command of the whole police force, including th…

§ 410. Duties (a) The City Clerk shall perform for the City the same duties as prescribed by the laws of this State upon town clerks, except insofar as the same are changed or modified by the provisions of this charter and shall charge and receive for the benefit of the City the …