ADDISON COUNTY — Here’s what to expect at each of the county’s town meetings in the coming week.

ADDISON

Addison once again this March sees contested races for local offices. One incumbent selectboard member is facing a challenge in what will be a rematch from 2024, and two candidates are squaring off in another race to earn what would be for either his first term on the board.

Addison will vote by paper ballot in the Addison Community Center gymnasium (the former elementary school gym) for candidates and on all town spending measures between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4. On Tuesday they will also weigh in by Australian ballot on the proposed Addison Northwest School District spending plan.

Residents will gather to discuss town business on Monday, March 3, at 7 p.m. at the same site.

In one selectboard contest, Peter Briggs, a farmer and multi-term incumbent, and Levi Barrett, an Addison Town Hall Committee member who is self-employed, are both seeking a two-year term. Briggs defeated Barrett for a one-year term in March 2024.

The other selectboard race pits artist and former Apple and Gap Inc. employee Michael Hollis, an Addison Planning Commission and Town Hall Committee member, against Vermont Agency of Transportation employee Geoffrey Grant. They were also on the 2024 ballot, both coming up short in a five-way race won by incumbent Roger Waterman. Hollis did earn a few more votes than Grant a year ago in the crowded field.

Other Addison candidates are unopposed. Adam Thomann, an incumbent, is alone on the ballot for a two-year term on the Tri-Town Water board this March. Thomann was appointed during the past year as a Tri-Town Water Commissioner to fill a board vacancy after coming up short in a race for the office in March 2024.

Also, Addison is one of the towns that still elects its town clerks and treasurers. Incumbent Cheri Waterman is unopposed as she seeks another three years continuing in both those posts.

The Addison selectboard has proposed higher town spending for residents to consider on Town Meeting Day.

The town’s general fund budget, including all spending except that on roads and nonprofit donations, is proposed at $788,655.50. That’s about $55,000, or 7.5%, higher than the spending plan residents approved last year.

Waterman said more money to pay for professional auditing ($15,000), site improvements at the fire station ($10,000) and increases in other line items, including town insurance and health insurance benefits, pushed spending higher.

The selectboard is also proposing a $1.024 million road budget, up by about $85,000, or 9%, from a year ago. Waterman said almost everything in the budget is stable, but the town must replace a culvert on Nortontown Road, and there are no grants available to help with that major expense.

The good news, Waterman said, is the Vermont League of Cities and Towns advised Addison that its selectboard can use ARPA funds to help offset taxes.

Residents will also decide on nonprofit requests that total $63,931, an increase of $1,100. The largest of those requests comes from the Bixby Library, $30,162, as determined on a per capita rate based in the population of community Bixby serves.

Addison residents also will be asked to give “the Selectboard or its agents” the authority to negotiate leases for “portions of the Addison Community Building” for up to five years, with renewal rights for five more years. Waterman said this measure will allow the town to start earning rental income for the building, including from a proposed child care business.

Another housekeeping item will give the selectboard authority to rename a reserve fund “to be called the Addison Community Center Reserve Fund.” Currently $23,143.65 sits in the former Addison Central School Fund that the ANWSD transferred to the town along with the title to the former central school. According to the article, the selectboard would use the fund for “voter approved budget appropriations for the purposes of covering expenditures that cannot be supported by a regular budget.”

Finally, on a separate ballot, Addison residents will join voters in other ANWSD towns on March 4 in deciding the fate of the school district’s proposed $27.653 million budget for the 2025-2026 academic at the Vergennes Union High, Middle, Elementary, and Ferrisburgh Central schools.

It represents a 1.48% spending increase ($403,000) over this year. But ANWSD officials estimate if the spending plan is passed that residential school taxes in each district community will be lower.

They also said the board’s proposed budget preserves all current student educational and extracurricular activities.

The board’s plan would use $800,000 of a $1.56 million surplus from prior fiscal years as reduce taxes.

A separate ANWSD ballot article will address the remainder of the surplus, asking voters to place it in the ANWSD Capital Improvement Fund.

Other factors lowering school taxes are that the Agency of Education’s estimate for the district’s average daily pupil count, upon which revenue is based, was higher than the district’s projection, thus boosting ANWSD’s bottom line, and that Vermont officials are dedicating $77 million to statewide property tax reduction.

Thus, project homestead school tax rates would drop across the board, including by about 19 cents in Addison, or $190 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Addison voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

BRANDON

Members of the Brandon selectboard will explain the town budget when they host town meeting in town hall on Monday, March 3, at 7 p.m. Residents will vote then on whether to exempt the Brandon Senior Center from property taxes for five years.

Residents will vote on the town and school budgets, and the voted municipal appropriations, on Tuesday, March 4, at Brandon American Legion Post 55 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Residents will considder proposed FY2026 general fund spending of $3,403,965, which represents a 2.25% increase over the current year. The amount raised by taxes — $2,876,645 — is a 1.4% hike.

After seeing voters reject the municipal budget twice last year, the selectboard is hopeful that this year the budget will pass the first time. For a home in Brandon assessed at the average value of $186,000, municipal property taxes would go up less than $22 for the year, town leaders said.

The single biggest line item is the Brandon Police Department, which is proposed to go up 9.41% to $937,000. Even with the increase, the department will not be able to provide 24/7 police coverage; though off-duty offices will be on call if needed.

Voters will also be asked to raise $50,000 to put aside for a capital fund.

Other larger appropriates ask for $92,500 for the library, $82,580 for the rescue squad, $25,000 for the American Legion, $15,500 for the senior center and $7,000 for a Fourth of Julty celebration.

Brandon will vote on three selectboard seats — one for a three-year term, and two for a one-year term.

Two Brandonites are seeing the  three-year term on the selectboard: Ralph Ethier, who is the only incumbent running for a seat, faces challenger Isaiah K. Webb.

Four candidates are runnng for the pair of one-year spots on the selectboard. On of them is Cecil Reniche-Smith, who was on the selectboard until last year, when she chose not to seek re-election for family reason. She is ready to return to the board this year. The other three would be newcomers to the board: Jeff Haylon, Vicki Disorda and Raymond Marcoux.

Bradon voters will join their peers in Leicester, Whiting, Goshen, Sudbury and Pittsford in casting ballots on the budget and board members representing the the Otter Valley Unified Union schools. In 2024, OVUU residents joined many other Vermonters in rejecting their school budgets. It took three votes before the Brandon-area district approved a spening plan of $26,808,222.

The board this year warned a FY26 spending pland of $28,022,999, which they pointed out is 9.38% higher in per pupil spending that the budget approved last year. The warned spending represents a 4.5% hike ($1,214,777) from last year.

At a Feb. 26 in-person OVUU annual meeting, voters present were scheduled to vote on a proposal to sell 10 acres of Otter Valley Union High School land to Valley Community Center so it can build a community center or recreation facility there.

There are no contested races for the OVUU school board, and the body is again this year looking for write-in candidates to fill out the slate of available seats. Candidates on the ballot are:

Lauren Thomas in Brandon, Lesley Bienvenue in Leicester, Brett Mullin and Jessica Markowski for two seats in Pittsford, Laurie Bertrand in Sudbury, and Barbara Ebling for an at-large seat. Another at-large seat and a board spot for Whiting do not have candidates. Write-ins are allowed for every seat.

BRIDPORT

Bridport residents on Town Meeting Day will be asked, among other things, to spend up to $75,000 for a new one-ton truck with equipment (to be financed over three years), and to use $194,220 in general fund surplus as a state grant match to finance an estimated $971,100 culvert replacement project on Middle Road.

This is one of several Australian ballot items on the Bridport warning. Bridport residents will be able to cast ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 4 at the Bridport Masonic/Community Hall. The business meeting will take place the same date and at the same location, beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Other requests on Bridport’s March 4 warning seek:

• A combined general fund/highway budget of $1,765,090 for fiscal year 2026, of which up to $1,504,952 would be raised by property taxes.

Residents last year backed a FY25 road/general fund budget of $1,872,217, of which $1,428,354 was raised through property taxes.

• A request that — in accounting for repairs related to the August 2023 rainstorm damage — any deficit from the fiscal year 2023-2024 public works budget be softened by any fund balance from the department’s 2022-2023 fiscal year budget.
• $30,000 to support the Bridport Fire Department during FY’26.
• A combined $52,165 in social service agency requests from nonprofits that serve Bridport residents.

There are no contested municipal elections in Bridport this year. Drexel Wheeler is on the ballot for a three-year  term on the selectboard; also, Stephanie Ouelette Pope, two years, selectboard; Tim Howlett, one year, town moderator; Darwin Pratt, three years, water commissioner; and Vicki Major, three years, town lister.

Bridport residents will also help decide a proposed 2025-2026 Addison Central School District budget of $51,719,284 to run Middlebury-area schools, a plan that reflects a 2% bump in overall spending, but a 6.2% decrease in per-pupil spending.

Based on the ACSD budget office’s latest calculations, the proposed budget — if approved — would see Bridport’s homestead education property tax rate plummet by $1.03 (49%), from the current $2.12 per $100 in property value, to $1.09.

In public education-related voting, Bridport residents will help decide a five-person race for three Middlebury seats on the ACSD board. Those competing include incumbents Brian Bauer and Steve Orzech, as well as Vance Bishop, Ron Makleff and Jess Venable-Novak.

The ballot also features uncontested bids for two ACSD seats: Steve Cash, for Ripton’s lone seat on the panel; and Jamie McCallum, for Weybridge’s seat.

All ACSD seats will be voted at-large in the ACSD-member towns of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge.

Bridport voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

BRISTOL

Bristol voters on Town Meeting Day will weigh in on a three-person contest for two three-year seats on the Mount Abraham Unified School District Board.

Running are Chanin Hill, and incumbents Elizabeth Sayre and Meredith Rossignol.

Bristol school board rep Melissa Laurie is running unopposed for a two-year term.

Also on the March 4 ballot, Bristol selectboard incumbents Ian Albinson (three-year term) and John “Peeker” Heffernan (two-year term) are running unopposed to keep their seats.

The only other contested races on Bristol’s Town Meeting Day ballot are those for seats on the Lawrence Memorial Library Board. Six seats on the board are up for grabs on March 4, and nine candidates have filed to run for the spots:

Daniella Sutherland seeks a one-year term.

Audrey Beckwith, Ashley “Boots,” Bennett, Jill Danyow and Elizabeth Guilbeault are running for two 2-year terms.

Vicki Coyle, Alison DaBica, Nakeeya Deas and Darren Klinefelter are on the ballot for three 3-year seats.

Three other residents are seeking votes as write-in candidates: Betsy Almeter (one-year term), Peter Hewitt (two-year term), and Ken Johnson (three-year term).

At the polls, Bristol residents living in the police district (primarily the village) will consider a proposed fiscal year 2026 police budget of $688,370 — which reflects an increase of $61,742, or 9.85%, from the current year.

Bristol voters on Town Meeting Day will also be asked to OK a $34,894,443 MAUSD spending plan for the 2025-2026 school year. The proposal reflects a decrease of $486,753, or 1.38%, in total spending from this year.

District officials estimate that the proposed budget — if approved — would translate to an 8.03-cent decrease in Bristol’s FY’26 tax rate for residents who pay taxes based on the value of their home. Residents who pay based on their income are also expected to see a decrease in the FY’26 tax rate, based on estimates using the median income for the area ($85,870).

Voters in the MAUSD will also weigh in on whether to allow district officials to transfer up to $1.04 million from the district’s Capital Reserve Fund to the general fund to help pay for replacing Mount Abraham Union High School’s roof. The Capital Reserve Fund contained $1,771,800 as of June 30, 2024. Article 11 on the warning asks voters to deposit the district’s fund balance from fiscal year 2024 (audited at $819,990) into the capital reserve fund.

Bristol voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

The MAUSD annual meeting will be Monday, March 3 at 4:30 p.m. at Mount Abe.

Bristol will hold its town meeting that same evening at 6 p.m. in Holley Hall.

Voting by Australian ballot to elect town and school officers and approve the police and school district budgets will take place the next day, Tuesday, March 4, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Holley Hall.

At the annual town meeting, residents will be asked to OK:

• A General Fund Operating Budget of $1,096,775, with $909,845 to be raised in taxes. That figure includes capital appropriations for the building and maintenance, sidewalk, technology, cemetery reserve, conservation reserve and reappraisal funds.
• Public works department spending of $1,292,108, with $1,177,108 to be raised in taxes. That amount includes capital appropriations for the Highway equipment, capital paving and road funds.
• Arts, parks and recreation department spending of $463,484, with $314,684 to be raised in taxes. That includes capital appropriations for the recreation equipment and facilities Fund.
• Fire department spending of $501,093, which would all be raised in taxes. That figure includes appropriations for the rire equipment and fire vehicle funds.
• A total of $431,363 in appropriations to civic organizations, including the Lawrence Memorial Library.

Altogether, the proposed FY’26 budget reflects an increase of $290,529 in overall spending and a $250,257 (8.12%) rise in the net supported by taxes.

Voters will also be asked whether to establish a new Skatepark Project capital fund for the Recreation Department.

CORNWALL

Cornwall residents at their town meeting will be asked to have their town clerk elected (instead of appointed), and to allow the selectboard to appoint the community’s planning commission members to one-year terms, instead of the current practice of electing them by Australian ballot.

If residents agree to have their town clerk elected, it would be for a term of three years.

In other business at their annual gathering on Saturday, March 1, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Bingham Memorial School, residents will be asked to endorse:

• A proposed fiscal year 2026 general fund budget of $548,081. That’s up roughly $38,000 from the current spending plan of $510,838

• A proposed FY’26 Highway budget of $515,050, which has been lessened by $65,000 in state aid. Residents last year OK’d a highway budget of $551,800.

• $81,200 to help fund the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department.

• Exempting the fire department and its two properties at 1952 Route 30 and 63 North Bingham St. from property taxation for five years.

• $5,000 for the Cornwall Free Public Library to pay its expenses during FY’26.

• A combined $26,395 for various social service agencies that serve Cornwall residents.

On Tuesday, March 4, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., residents will cast ballots on some contested seats for the Addison Central School District board, and on uncontested races for various municipal positions.

Running unopposed include Cy Tall, town moderator, one year; Din Burns, selectboard, three years; Tanya Byker, selectboard, two years; Laura Fetterolf, Richard Isenberg, Patricia McCormick and Kristina Simmons, library trustee for two years; and Don Burns and Steve Mahoney, planning commission for three years.

Cornwall residents will also help decide a proposed 2025-2026 Addison Central School District budget of $51,719,284 to run Middlebury-area schools, a plan that reflects a 2% bump in overall spending, but a 6.2% decrease in per-pupil spending.

Based on the ACSD budget office’s latest calculations, the proposed budget — if approved — would seer Cornwall’s homestead education property tax rate decline by 10 cents (5%), from the current $2.12 per $100 in property value, to $2.02.

In other public education-related voting, Cornwall residents will help decide a five-person race for three Middlebury seats on the ACSD board. Those competing include incumbents Brian Bauer and Steve Orzech, as well as Vance Bishop, Ron Makleff and Jess Venable-Novak.

The ballot also features uncontested bids for two ACSD seats: Steve Cash, for Ripton’s lone seat on the panel; and Jamie McCallum, for Weybridge’s seat.

All ACSD seats will be voted at-large in the ACSD-member towns of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge.

Cornwall voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students; it’s an 8% increase compared to this year.

FERRISBURGH

Ferrisburgh residents will consider from the floor of town meeting on Saturday, March 1, the selectboard’s proposed FY2026 spending plan of $2,830,154.

Ferrisburgh’s town meeting will be held upstairs in the Ferrisburgh’s Route 7 town hall beginning at 10 a.m.

That budget figure doesn’t include $38,195 of nonprofit requests that are routinely approved. Thus, the actual amount of spending town residents will decide upon by voice vote is $2,868,349.

Therefore the overall increase in proposed spending is $210,270, or 7.9%.

Residents may amend the budget at the meeting.

According to Town Clerk and Assistant Treasurer Pam Cousino, each penny on the town’s tax rate raises about $55,000, meaning if all things were equal the higher spending could raise Ferrisburgh’s municipal (non-school) rate by about 3.8 cents.

But, Cousino said the actual tax impact of the budget might not be known until the summer.

That’s because town is sitting on an undesignated fund balance of about $840,000, some of which the selectboard could choose to use to offset a tax increase. The board will discuss the fund balance at town meeting, but Selectboard Chair Clark Hinsdale said it would prefer to wait until the town and school tax rates are set this summer to make the final decision on the fund balance.

By then, town officials said the town’s fiscal picture will be clearer, including how much growth there will be in the grand list, a factor that will affect how much money that penny on the rate raises.

The town is undergoing a property reappraisal, but officials said it would not be completed in time to affect FY2026 tax rates.

Within the selectboard budget, one proposal is to add a town administrative position. After debate, the selectboard added $48,000 for an 80% position, but could use some of the surplus to expand the position’s hours. Board members agree that with Road Foreman John Bull leaving at the end of the year and Cousino doing so this summer, an administrator probably becomes necessary.

Other changes in the budget range include:

• A $21,456 increase in health insurance boosted the Employee Benefits/Insurance line to $237,670.
• The Public Safety line rose due to increases in for the Ferrisburgh Fire Department ($7,700), Vergennes Fire Department ($22,324), and Vergennes Area Rescue Squad ($26,805). The latter two increases were negotiated among multiple communities.
• Under “Payroll,” the highway department’s is projected to increase $28,000 to $330,512, but overtime pay to drop $10,000 to $35,000.

Town office payroll (not including an administrator) is budgeted to rise by a bit less than $9,000 to almost $258,000.

In Ferrisburgh there are no contested races on the ballot, and no major offices will be left unfilled.

Running without opposition for the selectboard are former selectboard chair Rick Ebel, who filed for a three-year term, current Chair Clark Hinsdale and fellow incumbent Walter Reed.

Hinsdale filed for the one-year remainder of former selectman Steve Fleming, who resigned from the board during his term. Another former board chair, Jessica James, has been serving as an appointee to fill Fleming’s seat, but only through Town Meeting Day. Reed filed for another two-year term.

Nikki Bearor’s term as Ferrisburgh member on the Addison Northwest School District board expires in March; she is running unopposed for another three years.

An item not on the warning is likely to come up for discussion. The selectboard heard arguments both pro and con on a town vote criticizing the state of Israel for its actions in the war in Gaza and its treatment of the Palestinian people, then rejected such a vote as not pertaining to town business. But given strong feelings expressed at selectboard meetings, it would not be surprising to see the question brought up from the floor of town meeting.

Ferrisburgh residents will also join voters in other ANWSD towns on March 4 in deciding the fate of the proposed $27.653 million budget for the 2025-2026 academic and fiscal year (FY26) at the Vergennes and Ferrisburgh schools.

The spending plan represents a $403,000 (1.48%) spending increase, but ANWSD officials estimate if the spending plan is passed that residential school taxes in each district community will be lower.

They also said the board’s proposed budget preserves all current student educational and extracurricular activities.

The board’s plan includes a proposal to use $800,000 of a $1.56 million surplus from prior fiscal years to reduce taxes.

A separate ANWSD ballot article addresses the remainder of the surplus, asking voters to put it in the ANWSD Capital Improvement Fund.

Other factors lowering taxes are that the Agency of Education’s estimate for the district’s average daily pupil count, upon which revenue is based, was higher than the district’s more conservative projection, thus boosting ANWSD’s bottom line, and that Vermont officials decided to dedicate $77 million to property tax reduction.

Thus, according to district officials, the projected ANWSD homestead school tax rates would drop across the board, including by about 6 cents in Ferrisburgh, or $60 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

GOSHEN

After Goshen residents convene in Town Hall for a Cookie Social gathering at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 3, they will gavel in the annual town meeting at 7 p.m. in the same venue. The headline item on the warning could be the incredible size of a proposed spending increase:

The selectboard is asking for $618,960 to spend on general municipal expenses, which is an increase of $349,199, or 130%, over what was approved last year. The budget this year adds a big project to renovate the town hall, making it much more energy efficient.

But as selectboard members are quick to explain, the project will be paid for with a $334,057 Municipal Energy Resilience Program (MERP) grant, that just came in this past October. Taking out that federal grant, the proposed increase in municipal spending is around $15,000, or about 3%.

Once the MERP renovations are completed, the upstairs in town hall will be available for community gatherings, and the selectboard encourages townspeople to reserve the space for events. “What a great place for a concert/music venue,” they write in the town report.

Residents will also vote on $749,200 to spend on the roads, which is an increase of less than $2,000 (.03%). But here too outside grant money decreases the need for local tax dollars. The board says the road funding ask nets to a 9% decrease from last year.

Goshen will also fill a few municipal offices on Town Meeting Day.

There will be a three-year term on the selectboard up for election; the seat is currently held by Diane O’Classen. Town Clerk Martin Fjeld’s term as town clerk expires; townspeople could re-elect him for three years.

Also up for election are a three-year lister, one-year delinquent tax collector, terms as trustee of public funds and cemetery commissioner, and town moderator.

On Tuesday, Goshen voters will join their peers in Leicester, Whiting, Brandon, Sudbury and Pittsford in casting ballots on the budget and board members representing the Otter Valley Unified Union schools. In 2024, OVUU residents joined many other Vermonters in rejecting their school budgets. It took three votes for the Brandon-area district to OK spending $26,808,222.

The board this year warned a FY26 spending plan of $28,022,999, which is 9.38% higher in per pupil spending that the budget approved last year. The warned spending represents a 4.5% hike ($1,214,777) from last year.

There are no contested races for the OVUU school board, and the body is again this year looking for some write-in candidates to fill out the slate of available seats. Candidates on the ballot are:

Lauren Thomas in Branon, Lesley Bienvenue in Leicester, Brett Mullin and Jessica Markowski for two seats in Pittsford, Laurie Bertrand in Sudbury, and Barbara Ebling for an at-large seat. Another at-large seat and a board spot for Whiting do not have candidates. Write-ins are allowed for every seat.

GRANVILLE

If debate gets too loud at next Tuesday’s town meeting in Granville, residents will be voting on a tool that could remedy that.

When they gather at Town Hall on March 4 beginning at 6 p.m., the agenda will include an article that asks residents to adopt a noise ordinance. Last summer town officials fielded complaints about excessive noise, in particular motorcycles on a private track at all hours, possibly detonation of explosives on private property, and occassional fireworks in the Green Mountain National Forest, among other complaints.

More typical for town meeting, Granville will consider a town spending plan and elect a handful of peers to municipal posts.

The proposed town spending plan of $420,820 would represent a hike of $14,934, or 3.7%, from what was approved last year. The selectboard’s budget breaks that down as setting appropriations for muncipal spending at $223,912, up 2.3% from last year, and for the road budget, the selectboard has asked $196,908, which is 5.2% more than last year.

In their report, selectmen said, “Last year, the overate increased nearly 40% almost entirely due to the State Education Tax.” They blamed that on a few very large real estate transactions that threw the grandlist out of whack. The town is in the midst of a reappraisal that the board hopes helps the tax rate.

Townspeople will also be asked to tap $5,000 from the Municipal Building Investment Fund for repainting the municipal building complex.

Up for election will be three-year terms on the selectboard, as town clerk and as town treasurer. Terms expring this Town Meeting Day include Selectboard Chair Bruce Hyde, Town Clerk Cheryle Sargeant, Town Treasurer Nancy Needham and Town Moderator Kelli Eckroth, among others.

Canidates for municipal seats are nominated at the meeting and voted at the meeting.

It’s not on the agenda, but if people ask, the selectboard would likely talk about the nearly $500,000 Municipal Energy Resilience Project (MERP) grant that the town received in 2024 and will use in 2025 to perform energy improvements at the town clerk’s office and town hall. The board has final say on specific work done.

HANCOCK

Hancock may lose a bit of that small-town feel after Town Meeting Day, when residents will vote on three measures that will change three key municipal jobs.

At the annual meeting on Tusday, March 4, 10 a.m. at Hancock Town Hall, voters will be asked if they will allow a non-resident to become town clerk and town treasurer, and will they also allow the selectboard to appoint those two key officials for the time being. Finally, residents will decide if the town of Hancock should adopt the town manager form of governance.

In the town report, the selectboard said that they have come to realize that compliance with state and federal mandates, along with the need to apply for grants for many projects, “requires a level of professionalism that a largely volunteer selectboard with neither the training nor the available outside time …then the daily affairs of municipal government would be best served by a professional town manager.”

Of course, the proposed selectboard spending request will also be a pivotal decision at town meeting. The town spending proposal is set at    $427,244, plus $7,019 in voter approved appropriations, for a total of $434,265. That respresents a decline in spending of $38,136, or 8%.

Other topics that may come up, include the town’s recently awarded Municipal Energy Resilience Project (MERP) grant. The $342,155 grant will be used to weatherize town buildings. A new $60,000 state planning grant will allow the town to study the feasability of bringing affordable houses to Tyler Meadow, near the fire station. Last year, Hancock ended its contract with the county sheriff for traffic speed enforcement; the selectboard may check in to see how that is working out.

The principal town office up for election is a three-year seat on the selectboard, which is now held by Jim Leno.

LEICESTER

Leicester is one of those Vermont towns were residents still appove municipal and road spending at the annual town meeting. That will still be the case when residents gather for the annual confab at the Leicster Meeting House on Monday, March 3, at 7 p.m., but this could be the last year.

An article on the town meeting warning asks if in the future residents will approve budgets by Australian ballot. Ballots will be cast on that question — by Australian ballot — on Tuesday; the polls will be open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. at the town office.
Otherwise, Leicester residents who come to town meeting on Monday may not have much to talk about. Proposed town spending — $825,216 — is down from last year — $834,686. Though the amount to be raised in property taxes represents an increase of $23,014, or 3.7% — from $617,966 last year to $640,980 this year.

The Leicester selectboard breaks out budgeted town spending into two chunks: general town expenses and highway expenses. The town is asking to spend $349,401 for general expenses, with the amount raised by taxes pegged at $300,580. Proposed spending on roads is $475,815, with the amount to be raised by taxes $340,401.

In addition to voting on the future of town budget approval, residents will vote on town and school budgets by Australian ballot on Tuesday, as well as cast ballots on a handful of elected positions. Two selectboard spots will be on the ballot: a two-year spot held by Tom Barker and a three-year spot held by Diane Benware.

The big-ticket item on the Leicester ballot this year will be a Fiscal Year 2026 Otter Valley Unified Union (OVUU) school district budget. Voters in the six school district towns — Leicester, Whiting, Goshen, Brandon, Sudbury and Pittsford — rejected the school budget twice last year. The amount warned this year is a few hundred thousand dollars more than the initial proposal in 2024, and is around $1.2 million more than the figure finally approved last June.

The board this year warned a FY26 spending plan of $28,022,999, which is 9.38% hirer in per pupil spending that the budget approved last year. The warned spending represents a 4.5% hike ($1,214,777) from last year.

There are no contested races for the OVUU school board, and the body is again this year looking for some write-in candidates to fill out the slate of available seats. Candidates on the ballot are:

Lauren Thomas in Brandon, Lesley Bienvenue in Leicester, Brett Mullin and Jessica Markowski for two seats in Pittsford, Laurie Bertrand in Sudbury, and Barbara Ebling for an at-large seat. Another at-large seat and a board spot for Whiting do not have candidates. Write-ins are allowed for every seat.

LINCOLN

Lincoln voters at their annual town meeting next week will decide whether they’d like to switch to voting on all money articles by Australian ballot beginning next year. They’ll be asked a similar question during the Lincoln School District annual meeting, weighing in on whether to adopt the school district budget by Australian ballot starting in 2026.

Lincoln will hold its annual meeting on Monday, March 3, at 6 p.m. at Burnham Hall. The Lincoln School District will hold its meeting that evening during a recess of the town gathering.

Voters will be asked to approve $672,065 in general fund spending, an increase of 7.8% from the current year. If approved, the amount of taxes to be raised for general fund spending would be $309,813.

Proposed highway spending would increase by $70,176, or 6.5%, to $1,157,856, with $939,568 to be raised in taxes.

Article 8 on the town meeting warning asks voters if the town should eliminate the office of lister “and replace it with a professionally qualified contracted assessor appointed by the selectboard.”

Voters will also be asked whether to authorize a sum of $10,000 for contracted law enforcement services. Article 11 asks voters to OK a sum of $175,000 for “further restoration and improvement of existing Class 2 asphalt surface town highways,” which would be deposited in the paving reserve fund.

Other articles on the Town Meeting Day warning ask voters to approve 28 voted appropriations to local organizations totaling $153,390, including $44,000 for the Lincoln Library and $56,000 for the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Company.

During the Lincoln School District’s annual meeting, voters will be asked to OK a $5,179,244.76 spending plan for the 2025-2026 school year, an increase of 5.1% over the current year.

School officials estimate that, if the spending plan is approved, Lincoln’s homestead tax rate would decrease by 20.8 cents, or 16.4%.

Article 6 on the district’s annual meeting warning asks voters to allow district officials to transfer up to $380,000 of the district’s audited surplus funds to the Education Reserve Fund. District officials expect a surplus of $481,173.55, and the proposed FY’26 budget accounts for applying $100,000 of the surplus to offset taxes for the upcoming year.

Voting by Australian Ballot to elect town and school officers will take place in Burnham Hall on March 4 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The March 4 ballot features three open selectboard seats. Lincoln selectboard members Ken Stockman (three-year term) and Lisa Sargent (two-year term) are running unopposed to keep their spots. No one has filed to run for the one year remaining of a two-year term on the board.

Lincoln school board members Jeanne Albert (three-year term) and Mary Gemignani (two-year term) are running unopposed to continue serving on the school board.

MIDDLEBURY

Middlebury residents at their town meeting will, among other things, be asked to perpetuate their local option tax and approve three bond requests — including one for $49.5 million to upgrade the community’s wastewater treatment plant at 243 Industrial Ave.

Voters will go to the polls on March 4 to decide a $49,580,000 investment in their wastewater treatment plant, which was built in 2000 with a life expectancy of 20 years. Plant operators have noted recent failures in various equipment that is becoming increasingly hard to replace due to evolving industry standards. The project would also improve the plant’s ability to process biosolids (sludge).

Officials have promised to look for grants to help defray the project’s costs, but it’s clear the payback will require a sizable jump in Middlebury’s wastewater rates. That jump has yet to be calculated.

The two other bond referenda on the ballot call for $2 million in proposed improvements to a major municipal water pump station off Rogers Road, and a $1 million plan to install a stormwater treatment system for the Adams Acres subdivision near Boardman Street.

Middlebury has qualified for a $2 million low-interest loan (2%) from the federal Clean Water State Revolving Fund for the Rogers Road work. The town has received a $232,000 grant from Vermont Agency of Transportation (requiring a local match of $58,000) to apply to the Adams Acres project. In addition, the town has qualified for a $1 million low-interest loan from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. It should also be noted that Adams Acres property owners — including G. Stone Motors, Desabrais Glass, Middlebury Legion Post 27 and Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects — are to collectively assume majority responsibility for the loan payback.

Middlebury’s 1% local option tax on rooms, meals, sales and alcohol — originally enacted as a funding mechanism for the town’s share of the $16 million Cross Street Bridge project — is due to expire in 2038. The local option tax has been raising far more than is needed for annual debt service and maintenance of the bridge, and local voters have been applying surplus revenues to capital projects. The selectboard would like to see that continue beyond 2038.

Voters at their March 3 annual gathering, which will take place at 7 a.m. at the Middlebury Union High School auditorium, will decide a proposed fiscal year 2026 municipal budget of $14,548,535. That’s a 6.9% increase compared to this year’s spending plan. The budget would require a 5.3-cent increase in the current municipal tax rate of 88.94 cents per $100 in property value, for a new, FY’26 total of 94.27 cents.

Major FY’26 budget drivers include a $492,369 increase in contracted employee wage increases and benefits, and a $123,451 bump in capital improvements.

Middlebury’s town meeting docket also includes a request to apply up to $125,000 in local option tax surplus to offset local engineering and construction expenses for an Exchange Street bike-pedestrian path, and another $131,264 in local option tax surplus to offset debt on a recent project that turned former wastewater treatment infrastructure into storage space for the police department.

There are no contested elections on Middlebury’s municipal ballot. Barring a successful write-in campaign, incumbent Selectpersons Isabel Gogarty and Andy Hooper are headed to new three-year terms, as is first-time candidate Megan James.

Further down on the Middlebury ballot, Natasha Sen and Dianne Lawson have no competition for three-year spots on the Ilsley Public Library board; Susan Shashok is headed for another year as town moderator; and Beth Dow is headed for another three-year term as lister.

But there is a race on the Addison Central School District ballot. Five candidates are vying for three of Middlebury’s seats on the ACSD board. Those competing include incumbents Brian Bauer and Steve Orzech, as well as Vance Bishop, Ron Makleff and Jess Venable-Novak.

That ballot also features uncontested bids for two other ACSD other seats: Steve Cash, for Ripton’s lone seat on the panel; and Jamie McCallum, for Weybridge’s seat.

All ACSD seats will be voted at-large in the district-member towns of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge.

Shire town residents on March 4 will also help decide a proposed 2025-2026 ACSD budget of $51,719,284 to run Middlebury-area schools, a plan that reflects a 2% bump in overall budget growth, but a 6.2% decrease in per-pupil spending.

Based on the ACSD budget office’s latest calculations, the proposed budget — if approved — would see Middlebury’s homestead education property tax rate decline by 29 cents (15%), from the current $1.95 per $100 in property value, to $1.66.

Middlebury voters will field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

After Middlebury’s in-person meeting on Monday, Australian ballot voting will take place the next day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the town’s recreation center at 154 Creek Road.

MONKTON

Monkton voters on Town Meeting Day will elect three new faces to serve on the town’s selectboard. Several longtime members will be stepping down from their posts this March, and eight residents have filed to run for the spots.

Sam Peisch is the lone candidate for the one year remaining on a three-year seat on the board.

Anthony Delgreco, John Dunham, Matthew Huizenga and Randall Charboneau are on the ballot for a two-year term.

Scott L. Gordon, Jessica Demeritt and Tom Steadman are running for the open three-year seat.

There are no other contested races on Monkton’s Town Meeting Day ballot.

Mount Abraham Unified School District board member Kielee Pelland is running unopposed for a three-year term on the school board.

Monkton voters are set to gather for the town’s annual meeting on Saturday, March 1, at 10 a.m. at the Monkton Central School.

At the annual meeting, residents will be asked to approve $877,790.72 in general fund expenditures, a decrease of $23,628 from what voters approved last March.

Other spending requests on the Monkton Town Meeting warning include:

• $1,498,207 in highway fund expenditures, an increase of $687,100.4 from what voters approved last March. It’s worth noting Monkton had a highway fund surplus of $290,286.16 that factored into the amount voted on last year.
• $20,849 in total appropriations for 27 local social service agencies, down $9,348 from what was approved last March.

Monkton voters at their town meeting will also be asked to OK a sum not to exceed $114,801 for the purchase of a Ford F550 truck.

Voting by Australian Ballot to elect town and school officers and approve the career center and school district budgets will take place on Tuesday, March 4, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Monkton Town Offices.

On Town Meeting Day, residents will be asked to adopt the Monkton Town Plan 2025-2033 as approved by the selectboard in December.

Monkton voters on Town Meeting Day will also be asked to OK a $34,894,443 MAUSD spending plan for the 2025-2026 school year. It reflects a spending decrease of $486,753, or 1.38%.

District officials estimate that the proposed budget — if approved — would translate to an 11.49-cent decrease in Monkton’s FY’26 education tax rate for residents that pay taxes based on the value of their home. Residents that pay based on their income are also expected to see a decrease in the FY’26 tax rate, based on estimates using the median income for the area ($85,870).

Voters in the Mount Abe district will also weigh in on whether to allow district officials to transfer up to $1.04 million from the Capital Reserve Fund to the general fund to help pay for replacing Mount Abraham Union High School’s roof. The district’s Capital Reserve Fund contained $1,771,800 as of June 30, 2024.

Article 11 on the district’s annual meeting warning asks voters to deposit the district’s fund balance from fiscal year 2024 (audited at $819,990) into the Capital Reserve Fund.

Monkton voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 spending proposal of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

The MAUSD’s annual meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 3 at 4:30 p.m. at Mount Abraham Union High School.

NEW HAVEN

New Haven will hold its 263rd annual meeting at its town hall on Monday, March 3, at 6:30 p.m. Voting by Australian ballot to elect municipal and school officers and approve town and school district budgets will take place in the same location on the following day, March 4, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Selectboard incumbent Michael Audy is on the ballot for a three-year term.

Chris Bataille is running unopposed for a two-year seat on the selectboard.

As for New Haven’s one school board position on the March 4 ballot, newcomer Britney Cyr and MAUSD board incumbent Sarah Louer are vying for a two-year term.

When considering the proposed spending included on New Haven’s March 4 ballot, it’s worth noting the town budgets on a January-December calendar year, while the MAUSD budgets use a July-June fiscal year. Thus, school-related charges and payments show up in different New Haven fiscal years.

Former New Haven Treasurer Danielle Hubbell has previously explained that voters will see a large surplus in the general fund, a large portion of which is made up of school taxes that are collected in one year and paid in the next. As a result, Article 6 of the New Haven town meeting warning includes both a $585,000 “school payment” due and a $682,186.09 “2024 surplus.”

With that in mind, voters are asked to approve:

• $585,000 for a school payment, down $15,000 from the current year.
• $875,573.21 in general fund expenses, up $61,326.73 from last year’s request.
• $1,573,462.59 for the proposed road fund budget, with $994,129.57 to be raised by taxes.
• $3,400 in voted appropriations for local organizations, spanning Articles 17 through 19. An additional $26,558.25 in appropriations for 19 other organizations are included in the proposed general fund budget and detailed in the town report.

There are several other items that New Haven voters will weigh in on when they head to the polls on Tuesday. Those include:

• Whether to spend up to $300,000 from the road equipment fund for a new town truck.
• Whether to spend up to $85,000 from the reserve facilities fund for asbestos remediation, installation of a vapor barrier with new flooring on the first floor of the Town Hall and to upgrade the restrooms to be ADA compliant.
• Whether to spend up to $60,000 from the Bridge Fund for replacement of the Plank Road Bridge.
• If the town should discontinue paying for the trash/recycling drop-off site effective on May 1.
• Whether to combine the town treasurer position with the trustee of public funds for a three-year term starting in 2028.
• Whether to transition the New Haven Community Library from incorporated to municipal beginning in January 2026.

New Haven voters on Town Meeting Day will also be asked to OK a $34,894,443 MAUSD spending plan for the 2025-2026 school year. The proposed plan reflects a decrease of $486,753, or 1.38%, in total spending from the current year.

District officials estimate that the proposed budget — if approved — would translate to a 12-cent decrease in New Haven’s FY’26 education tax rate for residents that pay taxes based on the value of their home. Residents that pay based on their income are also expected to see a decrease in the FY’26 tax rate, based on estimates using the median income for the area ($85,870).

MAUSD voters will also weigh in on whether to allow district officials to transfer up to $1.04 million from the Capital Reserve Fund to the General Fund to help pay for replacing Mount Abraham Union High School’s roof. The Capital Reserve Fund contained $1,771,800 as of June 30, 2024.

Article 11 on the district’s annual meeting warning asks voters to deposit the district’s fund balance from fiscal year 2024 (audited at $819,990) into the Capital Reserve Fund.

New Haven voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students; it represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

MAUSD’s annual meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 3, at 4:30 p.m. at Mount Abraham Union High School.

ORWELL

Perhaps the weightiest item under consideration for Orwell residents on Town Meeting Day this year will be, as usual, town spending.

The selectboard warned a town budget of $2,100,909, which is $322,361, or 18.1%, greater than the spending figure approved last year. But all is not lost for taxpayers who hoped to get a break. Half of that warned spending figure will be paid for with money raised from non-tax revenues.

In fact, the town asks to raise $996,472 from property taxes, which is $70,209, or 7.6%, more than was asked for in tax payments a year ago.

There are plenty of other spending iterms on the town meeting warning. Among the $25,750 in town projects that seek funding are $16,000 for operating the Wright Memorial Library Building, $4,000 for the historical society, $2,200 for the Orwell Parade Committee, $1,000 for the youth rec program, and $14,500 for the painting the town clock tower.

The $112,076 sewer budget, which needs voter approval, would be paid for by user fees.

Nearly $14,000 in requests for funds to social services agencies that service Orwell is led by $5,000 requested by Addison County Home Health and Hospice.

Among the 14 town offices up for election, it appears that only the race for town moderator is contested; Joe Andriano and Glen Cousineau are on the ballot.

Others on the ballot include Betty Walker for town clerk, Bryan Young for town treasurer,

Andrea Treadway (incumbent) for three years on the selectboard, Mike Christian (incumbent) for one year on the selectboard, and Harold “Joe” Pouliot for two years on the selectboard, among others. A seat for an auditor and one for a lister are looking for write-in candidates.

Orwell voters will be asked at the polls if they wish to instruct the selectboard to develop an ordinance for the recreational use of ATV/UTVs on town roads.

At the polls on Tuesday, Orwell voters will join those in other Slate Valley Unified Union School District (SVUUSD) to consider a a school budget of $32,086,270. Although that figure reflects a 5.21% increase in total spending, it is expected to result in an education property tax decrease in four of the district’s six towns — including in Orwell.

The proposed school budget includes resources to further a cafeteria/gym capital project for the Orwell Village School. The district is trying to secure state and federal grant money to fund the majority of that effort, which was originally part of $60 million SVUUSD bond that was defeated back in 2020.

PANTON

Panton residents on Town Meeting Day will vote by paper ballot on a lower town budget, contested races for selectboard and Vergennes Panton Water District board seats, a measure on whether to expand the town’s selectboard, and an Addison Northwest School District Budget that officials say would lower the town’s school tax rate.

Panton’s Town Hall will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on that Tuesday for voting, and residents may discuss town issues beginning at 7 p.m. the night before in town hall’s second story.

The selectboard has proposed a $1,119,514 spending plan that shaves a little more than $10,000 from the current spending level.

Those savings have been achieved despite several major expenses added to this year’s budget. Chief among them is $72,000 for the first year of payments on a new highway department truck (approved by voters a year ago) and about $35,000 in higher costs for health insurance benefits for three fulltime employees.

The major offset for those increased costs is a reduction in what the selectboard is proposing to put into reserve funds in the coming year. On the March 4 ballot are only two such funds: $2,400 as an Emergency Fund and $2,000 toward Panton’s next town-wide reappraisal. That $4,400 total is $71,600 less than voters were asked to approve for a half-dozen such funds in 2024.

Also eliminated from the previous spending was $7,500 in a selectboard discretionary fund, $7,000 from office IT and supply costs, and $20,000 in summer and winter road materials.

Town Clerk and Treasurer Kyle Rowe said the town also expects more revenue from a variety of sources, and in an email added he’s “cautiously optimistic that the municipal tax rate will decrease (by 4 cents), reflecting both the lower amount of revenue requested to be generated by taxes and stabilization in the Grand List property values.”

That estimate also assumes approval of nonprofit requests: Residents will also be asked to dedicate $13,451 of tax money to nonprofit organizations, including a $50 increase to one organization.

The selectboard expansion question is straightforward: increase the selectboard from three to five members; new members to serve two-year terms.

The details of a petitioned charter change to recall elections of selectboard members is still being discussed. Officials said the central question there is what threshold to set for a recall — a simple majority, or a requirement that a recall would need as many votes for a recall as originally cast for a board member to be effective.

Meanwhile, on the ballot will be two candidates for a three-year term on selectboard — longtime incumbent and Chair Howard Hall and challenger Reese Jaring, a Collins Aerospace employee described by a supporter as having an “extensive background in finance and budget administration.”

Two terms will expire on March 4 on the Vergennes-Panton Water District Board. Incumbent Chris Cook is unopposed for one seat. The other features a race between recently appointed incumbent Bob Hartenstein and challenger Kathy Kennett for the remainder of a two-year term.

Panton residents will vote on an Addison Northwest School District appending proposal of $27,653,000. It represents a $403,000 (1.48%) spending increase, but ANWSD officials estimate residential school taxes would be lower if passed.

They also said the board’s proposed budget preserves all current student educational and extracurricular activities.

The board’s plan includes a proposal to use $800,000 of a $1.56 million surplus from prior fiscal years to lower taxes.

A separate ANWSD ballot article will address the remainder of the surplus, asking voters to place it in the ANWSD Capital Improvement Fund.

Other factors lowering taxes are that the Agency of Education’s estimate for the district’s average daily pupil count, upon which revenue is based, was higher than the district’s projection, thus boosting ANWSD’s bottom line, and that Vermont officials decided to dedicate $77 million to property tax reduction,

Thus, district officials project that homestead school tax rates would drop across the board, including by about 5 cents in Panton, or $50 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

RIPTON

Ripton voters at their town meeting will be asked, among other things, to decide a proposed fiscal year 2026 town/highway budget of $869,487 and help sort out a five-person race for three Middlebury seats on the Addison Central School District (ACSD) board.

The proposed budget is around $100,000 more than the $770,667 spending plan Ripton residents OK’d for the current year. Ripton has incurred significant expenses related to flooding and is seeking grants to help mitigate those costs.

“There still has been flood-related work to do; needed repairs, upgrades, and improvements to our roads and river corridors, not to mention the meetings and paperwork for FEMA reimbursement, but we are on the uphill side for the moment,” reads a 2024 selectboard report signed by Selectperson Laurie Cox on behalf of the board. “Moving forward, we need to realize our weather patterns are changing. We will mitigate as best we can, but the coming years may force us to find some new directions for Ripton.”

Residents will consider the FY26 budget request as part of their annual gathering, set for Monday, March 3, at 7 p.m. in the Ripton Community House at 1283 Route 125. Also at the meeting, residents will be asked to:

• Appropriate $44,950 to help fund the Ripton Volunteer Fire and First Response Department.

• Allocate $6,000 for the Ripton Cemetery Commission.

• Appropriate $25,000 to seed a capital fund for future “long-term or large infrastructure projects.” Plans call for the sum to be built over time, with voter permission required before it can be spent.

Participants at the March 3 annual meeting will also be given an update on efforts to keep Ripton Elementary School viable. Current projects call for the school to have a K-5 enrollment of only 29 children this fall. Officials are trying to augment that number by offering Ripton Elementary enrollment to families in other ACSD towns.

Ripton residents will go to the polls at Ripton Community House on Tuesday, March 4, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., to cast ballots on:

• A combined $21,846 in social service agency requests from various nonprofits that serve Ripton residents.

• A series of uncontested elections that include incumbent Selectman Bill Hunsinger for another three years on the board; Tim O’Leary, moderator, one year; Chris Smith, town constable, one year; Carolyn Smith, delinquent tax collector, one year; and Erk Eriksen, town lister, three years.

Ripton residents on March 4 will also help decide a proposed 2025-2026 Addison Central School District budget of $51,719,284 to run Middlebury-area schools. It’s a plan that reflects a 2% bump in overall spending, but a 6.2% decrease in per-pupil spending.

Based on the ACSD budget office’s latest calculations, the proposed budget — if approved — would see Ripton’s homestead education property tax rate decline by 14 cents (7%), from the current $2.05 per $100 in property value, to $1.91.

In other public education-related voting, Ripton residents will help decide a five-person race for three Middlebury seats on the ACSD board. Those competing include incumbents Brian Bauer and Steve Orzech, as well as Vance Bishop, Ron Makleff and Jess Venable-Novak.

The ballot also features uncontested bids for two ACSD seats: Steve Cash, for Ripton’s lone seat on the panel; and Jamie McCallum, for Weybridge’s seat.

All ACSD seats will be voted at-large in the ACSD-member towns of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge.

Ripton voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students. It represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

SALISBURY

Salisbury residents will conduct all their Town Meeting Day business at the polls on March 4. Voters will field a ballot that asks, among other things, whether residents should appropriate $17,868 for the Otter Creek Watershed Insect Control District to apply adulticide to control mosquitos this year.

Voters will be asked to endorse a fiscal year 2026 general fund budget of $401,174, a roughly $14,000 increase compared to the $387,725 spending plan that passed comfortably last year.

The proposed FY’26 highway budget comes in at $537,370, a bump of around $12,500 compared to the $524,730 spending plan endorsed by voters last year.

Other items on Salisbury’s 2025 Town Meeting Day ballot seek:

• A combined $107,925 to help fund Addison County social service agencies that serve Salisbury residents. Residents will be able to vote on each of the 24 agency requests.

• Permission for the town to apply any general budget surplus (in excess of $30,000) from the current year to help stabilize the FY’26 tax rate.

There are no contested elections on this year’s ballot. Those running unopposed include John Nuceder, town moderator, one year; Allen Hathaway, town clerk, one year; Patrick Dunn, selectboard, three years; Jonathan Blake, selectboard, two years; Brenda Burchard, lister, two years; and Jeff McDonough, first constable, one year.

There are currently no takers for a one-year term on the selectboard, and for one year as delinquent tax collector.

Salisbury residents on March 4 will also help decide a proposed 2025-2026 Addison Central School District budget of $51,719,284 to run Middlebury-area schools. It’s a plan that reflects a 2% bump in overall budget growth, but a 6.2% decrease in per-pupil spending.

Based on the ACSD budget office’s latest calculations, the proposed budget — if approved — would see Salisbury’s homestead education property tax rate decline by 99 cents (45%), from the current $2.19 per $100 in property value, to $1.20.

Salisbury residents will help decide a five-person race for three Middlebury seats on the ACSD board. Those competing include incumbents Brian Bauer and Steve Orzech, as well as Vance Bishop, Ron Makleff and Jess Venable-Novak.

The ballot also features uncontested bids for two ACSD seats: Steve Cash, for Ripton’s lone seat; and Jamie McCallum, for Weybridge’s seat.

All ACSD seats will be voted at-large in the ACSD-member towns of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge.

Salisbury voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students. It represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

Voting in Salisbury will take place from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, in the town office. Residents are invited to attend their annual gathering — largely an opportunity to discuss the ballot referenda — on Saturday, March 1, at 2 p.m. at the Salisbury Community School.

SHOREHAM

Shoreham residents at their town meeting should make quick work of what is a short warning and a local ballot that features no contested elections.

This year’s annual meeting is set for Monday, March 3, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Shoreham Elementary School auditorium. Attendees will field a proposed 2025-2026 municipal budget of $473,018, and a proposed highway budget of $1,072,955.

The fiscal year 2026 municipal budget ask represents an approximately $30,000 increase compared to this year’s spending plan of $443,509.

The proposed FY26 highway budget translated into a 2.7% increase (around $30,000) compared to the $1,043,968 that voters approved for this year.

Voters at the gathering will also be asked to allow the selectboard to transfer $ 40,000 in General Fund balance to the town’s Highway Equipment Reserve Fund; and to set Nov. 12, 2025, as the deadline for paying taxes, after which financial penalties will be assessed for taxes still owed.

Australian ballot voting in Shoreham will take place the next day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Shoreham town office at 297 Main St. The ballot will include a total of $22,369 in social service agency requests, and a series of uncontested elections that include:

• Barb Wilson, one year, town moderator.

• Steve Goodrich, selectperson, three years.

• Rebecca Kerr, selectperson, one year. A second one-year term currently has no takers.

• Kelsey Cummings, library trustee, five years.

• Linda Larrabee, planning commission, two years.

• Scott Douglas, water commissioner, three years.

• Tom Rose, lister, three years.

There are no takers for two four-year terms and one two-year term on the planning commission; a one-year term as town constable; three-year and one-year terms as listers; and a three-year term as auditor.

Shoreham residents on March 4 will also help decide a proposed 2025-2026 Addison Central School District budget of $51,719,284 to run Middlebury-area schools, a plan that reflects a 2% bump in overall budget growth, but a 6.2% decrease in per-pupil spending.

Based on the ACSD budget office’s latest calculations, the proposed budget — if approved — would see Shoreham’s homestead education property tax rate decline by 87 cents (44%), from the current $1.97 per $100 in property value, to $1.10.

In other public education-related voting, Shoreham residents will help decide a five-person race for three Middlebury seats on the ACSD board. Those competing include incumbents Brian Bauer and Steve Orzech, as well as Vance Bishop, Ron Makleff and Jess Venable-Novak.

The ballot also features uncontested bids for two ACSD seats: Steve Cash, for Ripton’s lone seat on the panel; and Jamie McCallum, for Weybridge’s seat.

All ACSD seats will be voted at-large in the ACSD-member towns of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge.

Shoreham voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students; it represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

STARKSBORO

Starksboro will hold its annual town meeting on Saturday, March 1, at 9 a.m. at the Robinson Elementary School. Voting by Australian Ballot to elect town and school officers and to adopt the career center and school district budgets will take place on Tuesday, March 4, in the same location from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

There are no contested races on Starksboro’s Town Meeting Day ballot this year.

Selectboard incumbent Eric Cota is running unopposed for a two-year term. Tony Porter is the lone candidate for a one-year seat on the selectboard.

There are two Starksboro school board positions featured on the March 4 ballot. Mount Abraham Unified School District board member Brad Johnson is running unopposed for a three-year term. Herb Olson is running unopposed for a two-year term on the board.

At the town’s annual meeting, Starksboro voters will be asked to approve:

• $1,215,919 in general fund spending, an increase of $14,045, with $958,395 to be raised in taxes.
• $67,689 for the Fire Equipment Reserve Fund, an increase of $5,589.
• $126,505 for the Road Equipment Reserve Fund, an increase of $7,161.
• $51,958.83 for the Starksboro Public Library, an increase of $7,766.83.
• $13,520 for the Bristol Rescue Squad to provide ambulance service to parts of Starksboro, an increase of $5,930.

Articles 9 through 14 ask Starksboro voters to approve a total of $96,013 for 37 organizations that serve Starksboro and other parts of the county.

Article 7 asks voters if the town should raise and spend $50,000 to support the Starksboro Village Meeting House and Starksboro Cooperative Preschool renovation project.

Starksboro voters on Town Meeting Day will also be asked to OK a $34,894,443 MAUSD spending plan for the 2025-2026 school year. That reflects a decrease of $486,753, or 1.38%, in spending from the current year.

District officials estimate that the proposed budget — if approved — would translate to a small, 0.62-cent decrease in Starksboro’s FY’26 school tax rate for residents that pay taxes based on the value of their home. Residents that pay based on their income are also expected to see a decrease in the FY’26 tax rate, based on estimates using the median income for the area ($85,870).

Voters in the MAUSD will also weigh in on whether to allow district officials to transfer up to $1.04 million from the Capital Reserve Fund to the general fund to help replace Mount Abraham Union High School’s roof. The district’s Capital Reserve Fund contained $1,771,800 as of June 30, 2024.

Article 11 on the district’s annual meeting warning asks voters to deposit the fund balance from fiscal year 2024 (audited at $819,990) into the Capital Reserve Fund.

Starksboro voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

The MAUSD’s annual meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 3, at 4:30 p.m. at Mount Abe.

VERGENNES

Vergennes residents will decide all city business by Australian ballot on Tuesday, March 4, with voting to be held at the city’s Green Street fire station from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Residents are invited to discuss issues at the Vergennes Opera House on Monday, March 3, beginning at 7:30 p.m. A zoom link is available at www.vergennes.org/news_detail_T28_R541.php.

Residents won’t face decisions for elective office on the ballot unless they choose to write in names. Nor will they weigh in on the city budget; the city council will set the Fiscal Year 2026 city budget in June. However, there are decisions due on Tuesday on whether city tax money should be used to support a number of nonprofit entities that serve the city and county.

There are also decisions to be made on the ballot that city officials say are important.

One is a revote of the fire vehicle bond residents originally approved more than a year ago. Citizens in December 2023 backed a proposal to bond for up to $1.75 million for the city’s fire department to spend on replacing a 21-year-old heavy rescue truck and a 25-year-old ladder truck.

Since then, city officials discovered the vote wasn’t properly warned, and that quality used trucks can now be purchased for less money.

Thus, there will be a measure on the March 4 ballot asking residents to back a replacement bond asking instead for up to $1,233,000 for the purpose of financing the purchase of a used heavy rescue fire truck, a used ladder truck, and upgrading radio and safety systems for the vehicles.

There are also two articles on the ballot related to the Vergennes Opera House that officials describe as essentially housekeeping measures.

The first asks residents to amend the lease between as the city and the theater (the Vergennes charter requires voter approval of all city real estate deals) to reduce “the liquor liability insurance from $2,000,000 to $1,000,000, both per occurrence and in the aggregate” in the existing voter-approved lease between the city and the Friends of Vergennes Opera House.

The issue, according to city and theater officials, is that no insurance company will underwrite $2 million of such insurance, thus the lease must be amended to be legal.

The second item related to the opera house handles a technical requirement from the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and the National Park Service as a condition of their jointly awarded $500,000 grant toward the theater’s All Access Project.

City and theater officials said it’s simply intended to formalize protection of the opera house’s historic features through the required voter approval of a 15-year easement.

Moving on, two other articles seek nonprofit status for two entities that would allow folks to make tax-deductible donations. One would create a Parks & Recreation Fund, and the other would establish a Vergennes Burying Ground Fund Reserve to help pay for improvements to the old School Street Cemetery that’s no longer in use.

Finally, a petitioned article the council approved to go on the ballot gives residents a chance to weigh in on a non-binding advisory vote. It reads:

“Shall the voters of the City of Vergennes advise the City Council to adopt the following pledge? We, the Vergennes City Council, affirm our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people; We oppose all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression; and we declare ourselves an Apartheid-free community and to that end, we pledge to join others in working to end all support to Israel’s Apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation?”

Electorally, there will be names to check for elective office.

Three incumbent Vergennes City Council members are running unopposed: Mayor Chris Bearor and multi-term Councilors Mark Koenig and Susan Rakowski. A fourth council incumbent, Cheryl Brinkman, is not seeking reelection. Carson Harder-Hyde turned in a petition for that seat and will join the council in March. All will earn two-year terms.

Longtime Addison Northwest School Board Chair John Stroup also is stepping down. His term and that of fellow Vergennes representative Michael Kane both expire next week. Kane is running again with no opposition, but no one filed for Stroup’s seat. Barring a write-in campaign, a council appointee recommended by the ANWSD board will fill Stroup’s opening.

Also, Bettyjo Bouchey’s term on the Vergennes-Panton Water District Board expires in March. She was appointed to fill an opening, but chose not to run for a full term, leaving an opening on that board to be filled by appointment or a write-in candidate.

Also on Tuesday, Vergennes residents will join voters in other ANWSD towns in deciding the fate of the ANWSD board’s proposed $27,653,000 budget for the FY26 academic year.

The spending plan represents a 1.48% spending increase of $403,000 over the current spending level, but ANWSD officials estimate if the spending plan is passed that residential school taxes in each district community will be lower.

They also said the board’s proposed budget preserves all current student educational and extracurricular activities.

The board’s plan includes a proposal to use $800,000 of a $1.56 million surplus from prior fiscal years as revenue for this spending plan, thus lowering the tax rate.

A separate ANWSD ballot article will address the remainder of the surplus, asking voters to put it in the ANWSD Capital Improvement Fund.

Other factors lowering taxes are that the Agency of Education’s estimate for the district’s average daily pupil count, upon which revenue is based, was higher than the district’s projection, thus boosting ANWSD’s bottom line, and that Vermont officials decided to dedicate $77 million to property tax reduction,

Thus, district officials project homestead school tax rates to drop across the board, including by about 18 cents in Vergennes, or $180 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

WALTHAM

Waltham residents will choose a new selectboard member and decide whether to support higher town spending when they gather at their annual town meeting in Waltham Town Hall at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 3.

The opening on the selectboard, which will be filled by nomination from the floor followed by a show of hands or possibly paper balloting if contested, comes in wake of incumbent board member Brent Newton’s decision not to seek another term, according to Town Clerk Linda Devino. As of mid-February, Devino said she wasn’t aware of anyone seeking to be nominated. Whoever is elected will earn a three-year term.

Voters at that Monday meeting will also make their feelings known on a proposed increase in the selectboard’s proposed spending plan of roughly 23%, or around $64,000, on combined general fund ($141,013) and road maintenance ($107, 850) spending.

Road spending is proposed to drop slightly by around $2,000, but Devino said several factors are pushing the general fund higher, most notably a $25,600 payment on a $200,000 culvert project.

Salaries and benefits for Devino and Assistant Clerk Cookie Steponaitis are also projected to rise by $15,565, the town hopes to add a part-time zoning administrator for $8,700, and the cost of Vergennes Fire Department protection will increase by $6,000. Devino said the rest of the increases are small and spread around in a number of line items.

Separately, residents will be asked to support $5,099 for a number of nonprofits, $10,692 (based on per capita calculations) to support the Bixby Library, and a total of $29,000 in four reserve funds.

Waltham is in the middle of a town-wide reappraisal of its taxable property, and Devino said therefore tax impacts of the spending increase are difficult to predict. But she said based on the status quo, the average increase per town property would be $250.

Waltham residents will also join voters in other Addison Northwest School District towns via March 4 Australian balloting in deciding the fate of the ANWSD board’s proposed $27.653 million budget for the 2025-2026 academic and fiscal year (FY26). The district operates Vergennes Union High and Middle, Vergennes Union Elementary, and Ferrisburgh Central schools. Voting hours at town hall are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The spending plan represents a 1.48% spending increase of $403,000 over the current spending level, but ANWSD officials estimate if the spending plan is passed that residential school tax rates in each district community will be lower.

They also said the board’s proposed budget preserves all current student educational and extracurricular activities.

The board’s plan includes a proposal to use $800,000 of a $1.56 million surplus from prior fiscal years as revenue for this spending plan, thus lowering the amount of local taxes.

A separate ANWSD ballot article will address the remainder of the surplus, asking voters to place it in the ANWSD Capital Improvement Fund.

Other factors lowering taxes are that the Agency of Education’s estimate for the districts’ average daily pupil count, upon which revenue is based, was higher than the district’s projection, thus boosting ANWSD’s bottom line. Also Vermont officials decided to dedicate $77 million to statewide property tax reduction,

Thus, district officials project homestead school tax rates to drop across the board, including by about 6 cents in Waltham, or $60 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students, an ask that represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

WEYBRIDGE

Weybridge residents at their town meeting will field the usual general fund and highway budget requests, as well as decide whether to invest in a new truck.

The request is for $70,000 for a 1-ton truck for the highway department.  Plans call for the town to borrow the money from the municipal equipment fund and pay it back during a five-year period.

Local officials are proposing a fiscal year 2026 general fund budget of $210,882, up around $17,000 compared to this year’s spending plan of $193,782.

The highway department’s FY’26 request comes in at $618,748, up around $35,000 compared to the current $583,850 spending plan.

Other requests on Weybridge’s town meeting warning include:

• $30,000 to help fund fire protection for the town.
• $13,000 to continue the town-sponsored recycling program.
• $25,060 to continue a program that allows Weybridge residents full access to Middlebury’s Ilsley Library. Weybridge currently doesn’t have its own functioning municipal library.
• A proposal to consolidate the town’s two building funds into a single capital fund.
• A nonbinding resolution in support of a “commitment to freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people and all people,” and in opposition to “Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism and military occupation.”

There are no contested elections on the Weybridge ballot. Those running unopposed include Spencer Putnam, town moderator, one year; William Mayers, selectboard, two years; and Megan Sutton, selectboard, three years.

Weybridge residents on March 4 will also help decide a proposed 2025-2026 Addison Central School District budget of $51,719,284 to run Middlebury-area schools. It’s a plan that reflects a 2% bump in overall budget growth, but a 6.2% decrease in per-pupil spending.

Based on the ACSD budget office’s latest calculations, the proposed budget — if approved — would see Weybridge’s homestead education property tax rate decline by 17 cents (9%), from the current $1.94 per $100 in property value, to $1.77.

In other public education-related voting, Weybridge residents will help decide a five-person race for three Middlebury seats on the ACSD board. Those competing include incumbents Brian Bauer and Steve Orzech, as well as Vance Bishop, Ron Makleff and Jess Venable-Novak.

The ballot also features uncontested bids for two ACSD seats: Steve Cash, for Ripton’s lone seat on the panel; and Jamie McCallum, for Weybridge’s seat.

All ACSD seats will be voted at-large in the ACSD-member towns of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge.

Weybridge voters will also field a proposed Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY’26 budget of $5,704,280 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students. It represents an 8% increase compared to this year.

Weybridge will hold its annual meeting at Weybridge Elementary School on Monday, March 3, at 7 p.m. Australian ballot voting will take place the next day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the town clerk’s office.

WHITING

Residents of Whiting who gather for the annual town meeting next Tuesday evening will consider a town spending plan that proposes a 5% increase in expenditures, but the amount of tax dollars needed to support the bigger budget would increase by less than $1,000.

The penultimate article on the town meeting warning asks for $512,293 in town spending, which represents an increase of $24,618, or 5%, over the figure approved at last year’s town meeting. The article indicates that that spending number would create the need for $316,098 in property taxes in the coming year. That compares to $315,250 in taxes OK’d last year.

Eight town officials will be up for election, when residents gather at 7:15 p.m. in the town hall on March 4. Whiting nominates and votes on town offices from the floor of town meeting. The opening seats in question are: three-year term on the selectboard (Marcia King, incumbent); three-year term for lister (Peg Allen, incumbent); three-year term as auditor (Alison Remy, incumbent); one-year term as first constable (Mike Dame, incumbent); and one-year term as delinquent tax collector (Rani Fallon, incumbent).

Three library trustees will also be up for election; the incumbents are Heather Mattison, three years; Jaime Quenneville, two years; and Tara Trudo, two years.

Residents will also be asked if they wish to eliminate the office of constable,

Earlier on Tuesday, Whiting residents will go to the polls at the town office to cast ballots on the 2026 Otter Valley Unified Union (OVUU) school district budget. Voters in the six school district towns —Whiting, Leicester, Goshen, Brandon, Sudbury and Pittsford — rejected the school budget twice last year. The amount warned this year is a few hundred thousand dollars more than the initial proposal in 2024, and is around $1.2 million more than the figure finally approved last June.

The school board this year warned a FY26 spending plan of $28,022,999, which is 9.38% higher in per pupil spending that the budget approved last year. The warned spending represents a 4.5% hike ($1,214,777) from last year.

There are no contested races for the OVUU school board, and the body is again looking for write-in candidates to fill out the slate of available seats. Candidates on the ballot are:

Lauren Thomas in Brandon, Lesley Bienvenue in Leicester, Brett Mullin and Jessica Markowski for two seats in Pittsford, Laurie Bertrand in Sudbury, and Barbara Ebling for an at-large seat. Another at-large seat and a board spot for Whiting do not have candidates. Write-ins are allowed for every seat.