BRISTOL — Bristol voters on Town Meeting Day agreed to establish a local option tax in their community, approving the proposal by Australian ballot, 418-200.

Town officials have noted that proceeds raised through the 1% levy on sales, meals, rooms and alcohol for the town of Bristol would be used for “for Capital Infrastructure (minimum 40%), Climate Resilience & Emergency Preparedness (minimum 20%), and Economic Development (minimum 20%).”

Also on Town Meeting Day, voters re-elected incumbents Michelle Perlee (three-year term) and Jessica Teets (two-year term) to the town’s selectboard. Both ran unopposed.

Mike Dash was the sole candidate for a three-year term on the Mount Abraham Unified School District Board. Dash currently serves as vice chair on the school board.

At the polls, Bristol residents living in the police district (primarily the village) OK’d a proposed fiscal year 2027 police spending plan of around $701,116 — an increase of 1.88%, or $12,947, from the current year. Voters approved the spending proposal, 251-109.

Bristol voters on March 3 also fielded a $37,862,780 MAUSD spending plan for the 2026-2027 school year and a Patricia Hannaford Career Center FY27 budget of $6,271,916 to deliver vocational-technical education to Addison County students.

Bristol voters gathered in Holley Hall for their annual town meeting this past Monday. That evening, voters passed a pledge expressing support for the Palestinian people and declaring Bristol an “apartheid-free community.” Community members had this past January presented the selectboard with a petition to get a similar pledge on the town meeting warning, which selectboard members ultimately declined to do. Though it wasn’t on the warning, Bristol voters brought an “apartheid-free community” pledge to a vote on Monday.

The pledge approved by voters saw some changes from what selectboard members were presented with in January, and ultimately read: “Shall the voters of Bristol adopt the following pledge: We 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 the government of Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism and military occupation.”

After a lengthy discussion, the resolution was ultimately approved by division of the house, 35-30.

Residents also approved from the floor:

• A General Fund Operating Budget of around $1,407,887, with about $1,215,907 to be raised by taxes. That amount includes appropriations for the town’s capital building and maintenance, capital sidewalk, capital technology, cemetery reserve, conservation reserve and reappraisal funds.
• A Public Works Department Operating Budget of around $1,404,341, with about $1,289,341 to be raised by taxes. That figure includes capital appropriations for the capital equipment, capital paving and capital road funds.
• An Arts, Parks, and Recreation Department Budget of $381,317.72, with $237,517.72 to be raised in taxes. That includes capital appropriations for the capital recreation equipment and facilities and skatepark project funds.
• A Fire Department Budget of $505,073, all of which would be raised by taxes. That includes capital appropriations for the capital fire equipment and the capital fire vehicle funds.
• A total of around $435,726 in appropriations for civic organizations, including the Lawrence Memorial Library ($265,275).

Also at the meeting, Bristol voters joined residents in several other local communities in passing a non-binding resolution asking whether voters should “call upon the General Assembly to discuss, take testimony, and vote on H.433 during the 2026 session?” H.433 is a bill in the Vermont Legislature that aims to implement a publicly financed health care program for all Vermonters, beginning with universal primary care.