Charlotte voters have approved a $2.7 million town budget in a special election, nearly two months after narrowly rejecting a larger spending plan on Town Meeting Day.
The budget passed 496-354 on Tuesday, with a 26% voter turnout, according to Town Clerk Mary Mead. Voting was by secret ballot at Town Hall, with 305 residents casting absentee ballots.
The earlier $2.9 million proposal was rejected by 35 votes in March balloting, which drew a 29% turnout.
“I’m grateful that the voters supported the current budget,” Kelly Devine, the newest Selectboard member, said via email. “I have heard clearly that we have some work to do.”
The board had made several line item cuts since the March 7 vote, eliminating a standard 2-3% annual raise for employees and reducing the town’s share of their health insurance by $20,000 for fiscal 2024 — all of which emerged as major points of contention among residents.
The total amount presented Tuesday — $2,780,713 — represented a reduction of $150,196, or about 5%, as outlined by Selectboard Chair James Faulkner at an April 17 meeting.
The newly adopted budget calls for $1.1 million to be raised through property taxes and $1.6 million through non-tax revenues.
Several meetings leading up to the revote proved to be contentious, with some residents taking issue with the sizable salary increases and what they characterized as generous benefits budgeted for town employees — a reason cited by some for the failure of the initial spending plan.
The budget adopted Tuesday scrapped more than $11,000 in raises and reduced health insurance costs from $233,000 to $213,000. But it did not trim the cost of living increases of up to 8% in the original budget or eliminate position upgrades that increased some salaries by more than 20%.
Some in attendance at recent meetings argued that for a town of only 3,912 residents, employee salaries are disproportionately high.
Under the revised budget, the town clerk/treasurer will draw a salary of about $94,000, plus an additional $7,800 as delinquent tax collector; the town administrator will be paid about $94,000; the assistant clerk, about $65,000; and the library director, about $87,000.
The library budget of $324,356 passed by only 30 votes at Town Meeting, and although presented as a separate ballot item it also came under scrutiny when the overall budget failed. In response, the Library Board of Trustees voluntarily reduced the approved budget by $4,688.
Residents in recent weeks also have complained on Front Porch Forum about broken trust and lack of transparency, pointing to lawn signs of uncertain origin that cropped up around town that read: “Stop denying the budget problems. Vote No May 2.”
Kim Findlay’s post on Front Porch Forum noted that she would vote against the revised budget because it’s the “only way I know how to tell the selectboard and town employees that change is necessary.”
Tanna Kelton also posted concerns about the new spending plan, calling the process “unsustainable” and saying she would not vote for the revised budget.
“If we don’t take the opportunity today to address the runaway town employees’ salaries, the 100% taxpayer-funded HRA, and the lack of employees contributing to their health care premiums, then where will we be in twenty years?” she wrote on the online forum.
Devine said the selectboard is in the process of creating a working group of community stakeholders that will develop recommendations on employee compensation in the next fiscal year. “It is tasked with coming up with $20,000 in savings this year and a plan going forward,” she said.
Other board members did not respond to emails seeking comment.
The selectboard is “committed to examining employee compensation and benefits,” Town Administrator Dean Bloch said in an email Wednesday. The agenda for the May 8 board meeting includes finalizing the process to appoint the working group Devine referenced.
Town manager system
Meanwhile, residents in Charlotte are leading an effort to switch to a town manager form of government, The Citizen reported. The timing is right, they say, with Bloch retiring in October. Proponents agreed on April 17 to hold off on submitting the petition they were preparing until after the revote.
A citizens committee has collected 225 signatures and researched several town governments statewide. It has developed four presentations outlining the pros and cons of a town manager versus a town administrator system, said former selectboard member Lane Morrison.
The committee is to meet soon to decide on next steps.
“I think it’s time for the town of Charlotte to relook at the governance process to improve and this appears to be a time to seriously consider a town manager,” Morrison said. “I think it would help the whole budget process as well as overall management of the town.”
A town manager would still be answerable to the Selectboard but could handle a lot of business, like budget presentations, to free up the current board’s time — and would improve efficiency, he said.
The board would have 60 days to respond once the petition is filed.
The Selectboard is also working with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns to find a replacement for Bloch. “This comes at a cost,” Faulkner said at the April 10 meeting.
Richard McGuire, executive search consultant, outlined several options for the upcoming recruitment process. He estimated the process could cost between $12,590 and $15,000.