This story by Katy Savage was first published by the Mountain Times on Aug. 26, 2026.
Monday, Aug. 24 was Celia Clancy’s first time sitting with the Killington Selectboard since she defeated Roger Rivera for the seat on Aug. 11. She was largely quiet during the meeting.
Killington officials are trying to stabilize the town’s finances after a cash crunch left it without enough money to cover all of its financial obligations earlier this month. Staffing shortages have contributed to confusion and reporting problems with public financing supporting infrastructure for the multibillion-dollar Killington Village development.
About $6.3 million was due recently, but the town had only about $5 million in the bank, forcing officials to seek a 30-day extension. The town has since paid about $6.3 million in obligations, including $1.3 million in maturing debt, according to interim Town Manager Rob Kovalesky.
But the town still needed cash to cover upcoming expenses. Working with Community Bank, Killington secured a $3.4 million tax anticipation note, expected Sept. 2.
Tax anticipation notes are short-term loans used to cover expenses while waiting for tax revenue to come in.
“That was a really rough telephone call, but we got it done,” Selectboard chair Jim Haff said at the Aug. 24 selectboard meeting, referring to the call with the bank. “So we will have $3.477538 (million) put into our general fund to start funding some other payments.”
Another $2.4 million in expenses will come due by Nov. 15, which Kovalesky said will be covered by incoming tax revenue.
Killington’s cash-flow problems follow months without an approved municipal budget. The first budget failed on Town Meeting Day, and voters did not approve a new budget until Aug. 11. The approved budget allows the town to send tax bills and collect needed money.
“We’ve got to run this like a business,” Haff said.
The town has also used tax money collected for education to cover municipal expenses, Haff acknowledged during Monday’s meeting. Haff had previously been adamant that the town could not use education funds for municipal expenses. But he said the town’s auditor has since reviewed the relevant statutes and approved temporary use.
“We’ve had a conversation with our auditor, Ron Smith, and he’s looked into the statutes,” Haff said. “Yes, we probably used some of the education fund money that has come in to pay that $1.3 million. But per statute, you have 30 days to turn it over to education.”
Town brings in financial help
Killington has been operating without a finance director since Kirsten Hathaway-Olson resigned in June.
The town is now looking both for outside financial help and potential permanent hires.
Shasta Mattino, director of finance and interim executive director for the Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region, was expected to provide the town with a contract proposal.
“She is extremely financially oriented,” Kovalesky said. “She knows systems backwards and forwards, and she is providing us, hopefully, by tomorrow, a proposal to work with us to be able to help us better organize and streamline our processes to be able to capture the right types of grants, the reimbursements for TIF.”
Sarah Macy, a finance director for the city of St. Albans, is also expected to provide Killington with 3-4 hours of help every few weeks, with a particular focus on the town’s tax increment financing district.
“She is the TIF person,” Haff said. “If you ever want to see somebody get excited about Excel and NEMRC, I mean, just have a conversation with her. She’s amazing.”
Her work will be reimbursed through the town’s TIF district.
Town officials are also expected to meet with the Vermont Economic Progress Council in Montpelier on Aug. 31 to explain the town’s financial situation and its failure to provide the council with required documentation. Stephanie Clarke, the vice president of White + Burke Real Estate Advisors, who is advising the town on its TIF projects, submitted a response and corrective action plan after VEPC notified Killington that it had found compliance issues, which centered on widespread financial discrepancies.
The board also discussed how the town ended up without a retained municipal auditor. R.H. Smith had served as the town’s auditor for about 15 years. Kovalesky said he learned the firm reached out twice in March and April seeking to meet with the selectboard. On April 3, Kovalesky said, the town’s finance director told R.H. Smith that Killington was holding off on signing a contract for fiscal year 2026 because of increased costs and was considering seeking bids from other firms.
Selectboard members claim they were unaware of this decision, but town employees had told VEPC.
VEPC Executive Director Jessica Hartleben called the period without an auditor a “serious control matter” in an email that Kovalesky read during the meeting, while emphasizing that it did not change Killington’s responsibilities to properly administer and document its TIF district.
The town has since reestablished its relationship with R.H. Smith.
The board also directed Kovalesky to begin advertising several of the town’s vacant leadership positions.
Among those, the fire chief position has been vacant since Billy Austin resigned in May.
“Now that we know we got money coming in, and there’s a budget for a fire chief at $85,000, let’s get that together,” Haff said.
The town will also seek to fill a finance director and public works director positions, while it works toward a hybrid model.
