Burlington voters will have the opportunity to reshape the partisan makeup of the City Council in Tuesday’s Town Meeting Day election, as well as a chance to approve or shoot down a hike in property taxes.
Voters should have already received their ballots from the city in early- to mid-February. For those who didn’t mail in or drop off their completed ballots, polling places will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
This is the fifth straight citywide election in which all registered voters received a ballot in the mail. As of Monday afternoon, 5,492 ballots had already been cast, according to the city clerk’s office. That’s slightly more than a third of the 14,571 voters who participated in last year’s Town Meeting Day election.
Residents who have not yet registered to vote can still do so on Election Day. More information is available on the city’s website, where voters can also examine a map that shows the boundaries of Burlington’s various precincts.
VTDigger compiled a brief preview of each race and ballot item.
City Council races
With eight of the City Council’s 12 seats on the ballot — all those that represent “wards” and not “districts” — Tuesday’s election will decide which of Burlington’s major parties gets to legislate its agenda alongside Democratic Mayor Miro Weinberger.
To maintain their six-seat plurality, Progressives must fend off challengers in three wards: 1, 3 and 8. Should an incumbent lose, the contest in Ward 1 — where Democrat Rob Gutman is taking on Progressive incumbent Zoraya Hightower — would mark perhaps the biggest ideological shift in the council.
In Ward 8, two University of Vermont seniors are battling for the open seat left by Councilor Jane Stromberg, though they have yet to signal a stark division on hot-button issues such as policing and housing.
While Progressive Ali House vowed to vote against a second nomination of acting Police Chief Jon Murad to run the police department permanently, Democrat Hannah King has not taken a side on the matter, saying that she wants to speak more with Murad and voters before deciding.
In Ward 3, Progressive incumbent Joe Magee faces Burlington Republican Party Chair Christopher-Aaron Felker. In an August special election to replace former Progressive Councilor Brian Pine, Magee won 47% of votes to Felker’s 14% in a three-way race. Owen Milne, an independent, captured 39% of the vote.
A three-way race in the New North End’s Ward 7 could also alter the council’s dynamics. Democrat Aleczander Stith is aiming to unseat independent incumbent Ali Dieng, with Progressive-backed independent Olivia Taylor in the mix as well.
Perhaps the council’s most coveted swing vote, Dieng has been bashed by Stith as wishy-washy on the issue of policing — a notion Dieng rejects. Each candidate has racked up a slew of local endorsements, with Stith receiving a rare measure of support from the Burlington Police Officers’ Association.
In Ward 5, which covers the city’s South End, the departure of Democrat Chip Mason has spurred a three-way race between Democrat Ben Traverse (who Mason endorsed) and independents FaReid Munarsyah and Lenora Travis.
In Ward 2, Progressive Gene Bergman is running unopposed for a return to the seat he held decades ago, after Council President Max Tracy, P-Ward 2, opted not to run for a sixth term. Democrats Sarah Carpenter and Karen Paul — of Wards 4 and 6, respectively — also face no challenges to reelection.
On the other side of the ballot, voters can have their say on five questions.
Question 1 — $98.2 million school budget
The Burlington School District is asking voters to approve a $98.2 million budget, up about 3% from last year. That roughly $3 million increase will cover annual increases in expenses such as salaries and utility bills.
Though the budget is up, officials say it will lower the education portion of residents’ property taxes (which finance schools and the city government) because of an infusion of federal education dollars and a surplus in the state Education Fund.
Yet, that calculation hinges on using the entire $90 million Education Fund surplus expected this school year on tax relief. So far, Gov. Phil Scott has proposed using only half the sum to lower property taxes.
Question 2 — municipal tax rate increase
City officials are asking for a 5.5% increase in the municipal tax rate. Weinberger has said the 4-cent increase is needed to offset historically high inflation and to start integrating into the city’s structural budget $1.75 million in equity initiatives the city spent last year using onetime federal funds.
If the school budget is approved (and the $90 million surplus in the state Education Fund goes entirely to tax relief), officials estimate that the higher municipal tax rate would still lead to a property tax rate decrease this year of 2.76%.
Question 3 — $23.8 million capital bond
Voters will also decide on a $23.8 million bond to finance a series of infrastructure projects the city hopes to take on.
The bond is a slimmer version of the $40 million proposal Weinberger put before voters in December. That ballot measure received 57% support, short of the two-thirds approval it needed to pass.
The new version of the bond would increase property taxes for a decade, with owners of a median-value home in the city ($379,100) paying $35.77 more per year in fiscal year 2023, and an extra $88.73 at the bond’s peak in fiscal year 2025, according to official estimates.
Tuesday’s bond — which would allocate money toward sidewalk repairs, emergency radio systems and $1 million toward the city’s rundown Memorial Auditorium — also needs a two-thirds majority for approval.
Question 4 — $25.9 million TIF bond
Not to be confused with the $23.8 million capital bond, voters will be asked whether they want the city to take on $25.9 million in debt to revamp a section of Main Street from Battery Street to South Union Street.
The bond is not projected to raise property taxes because it relies on tax increment financing, or “TIF” — a mechanism that funnels added tax revenues resulting from new development in the area toward paying off the bond.
Question 5 — charter change on sex work
The only nonmonetary ballot item asks voters whether the City Council should have authority to pass ordinances regulating sex work.
Councilors already voted in October to remove its seldom-if-ever-used ordinances barring sex work. The charter change before voters would strip the council of its authority to put rules regarding sex work — which is typically prosecuted using state law — back on the books.
Proponents of dropping the charter language say it uses outdated terms to describe the practice of performing sexual acts in exchange for money, and adds potentially dangerous stigma to those who engage in that work.
However, critics contend that dropping the charter language would lead to an increase in human trafficking.
