GUEST COLUMN Notes from town hall

BY ERIK WELLS Williston Town Manager

Greetings Williston community.

The selectboard and I are eagerly preparing for the return to an in-person Town Meeting on Monday, March 6 beginning at 7 p.m. in the Williston Central School auditorium. Following Town Meeting business, a public information hearing will be held in the auditorium to provide an overview of Australian ballot articles, including the town budget proposal. Voting by Australian ballot will take place at the Armory from 7 a.m.– 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7. Interested in voting early or by absentee ballot? Contact the town clerk’s office. Ballots will be available around the middle of February at Town Hall.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) — a common measure of inflation — was 6.5 percent. In the Northeast Region during the same time, the rate was 6.1 percent. The budget proposal falls between both inflation measures.

town facility maintenance.

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There were many external pressures faced in developing the budget this year due to inflation, while balancing community needs to arrive at a fiscally responsible spending plan for the town. The budget maintains the current level of municipal services the town provides. The cost of providing these services has increased.

The proposed budget (Article 5) represents a 6.3 percent increase over the current budget, about $830,000. We are in challenging economic times, and through December 2022, the 12-month average increase in the

Most of the increase in the town’s proposed spending plan is connected to wage and benefit costs, which make up over 60 percent of the budget. The town strives to provide a competitive wage for staff, and, like most employers today, is looking to retain our staff and attract new employees when openings do occur by remaining competitive in a challenging job market. Benefit costs continue to increase, especially the cost of health insurance. Inflation is affecting operating expenses throughout the budget inclusive of professional services, vehicle fuel, utilities, materials, capital equipment and many other items necessary to provide municipal services.

The budget contains a limited number of expansions to existing staff hours that are tied to increases in demand being felt for services. These items include elevating the assistant library director position from part-time (28 hours per week) to full-time; additional hours for finance/treasurer parttime support staff; and elevating a seasonal buildings and grounds position to full-time during the year to meet increased demand on

Among the duties of the position will be providing winter maintenance services on the town’s sidewalk and path network. This will provide the town with staff capacity to clear all existing sections of sidewalks and paths throughout the winter months, a practice that is unable to occur today. The town is in the process of purchasing a second sidewalk plow using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

To balance the budget, the revenue plan relies on a variety of sources, including property taxes, local option taxes, municipal fees, state aid and the strategic uses of reserves and ARPA funds to provide the municipal services reflected in the spending plan. The tax rate for FY 24 will be set in June following the finalization of the grand list. Growth of the grand list is estimated at 0.25 percent.

The budget proposal includes an estimated increase in the tax rate of just over 3 cents per $100 of assessed property value, or, looking at it another way, $32 per $100,000 of value. For a median assessed Williston home ($300,000) the estimated increase is $98 for the tax year, or about $8 per month.

The town has seen continued strong receipts from its 1 percent local option tax on sales, rooms, meals and alcohol. A benefit of the local option tax is to reduce the revenue necessary to raise through property taxes. Williston has the second lowest property tax rate in Chittenden County, and the local option tax accounts for about 26 percent of the revenue raised to support the budget.

Article 6 is to consider whether the town should purchase a solar array on the roof of the Public Works Facility using $125,000 of unspent proceeds from the 2013 sale of bonds to construct the facility. The solar array is currently owned by a third party and the town has a purchase option this year. Purchasing the solar array would allow the town to retain the full amount of net metering credits produced by the solar array that would in turn reduce annual electricity costs.

Article 7 may look familiar as see WELLS page 7

Letters To The Editor

The wrong side of the law

The Williston Police Department sends our sincere condolences to Tyre Nichols’ family for their tragic loss. The agonizing video depicting the vicious beating and subsequent murder of Tyre, by those who took an oath to protect and serve, shocks the conscience and defies everything this profession stands for.

Wells

continued from page 6 it relates to financing the purchase of a new ambulance. Voters approved a similar article at Town Meeting 2022, allowing the town to borrow funds up to $280,000 to finance the new ambulance (expected delivery summer 2023) over seven years. This article is requesting authority to fund this purchase through the issuance of bonds or notes, allowing greater flexibility to reduce financing costs. The current bond market may allow a lower interest rate than financing through a financial institution.

Please visit the town website (www.town.williston.vt.us/townmeeting) for complete materials related to articles being considered at Town Meeting, including the budget by line item. If you have a question, please send me an email at ewells@willistonvt. org or give me a call at my desk at (802) 876-1168 in Town Hall.

I’ll also be holding informal drop-in chats leading up to Town Meeting to talk about the budget proposal or any questions you have about how your local government works. Here’s where to find me:

• Feb. 2 (10:30-11:30 a.m. at library lobby)

• Feb. 13 (5-6 p.m. at Town Hall meeting room)

• Feb. 15 (11 a.m.-12 p.m. at library lobby)

• Feb. 22 (11 a.m.-12 p.m. at library lobby)

• Feb. 23 (5-6 p.m. at Town Hall meeting room)

• Feb. 28 (12:30-1:30 p.m. at library lobby)

• March 2 (5-6 p.m. at Town Hall meeting room)

I look forward to connecting with you now or another time during the year.

Remember to vote!

The release of the body worn camera footage will no doubt be met with outrage, disdain and frustration. Those officers who are responsible for the death of Tyre Nichols have been fired, arrested and charged with his murder.

The behavior of those officers charged with Tyre’s murder goes against every principal of the law enforcement profession and is in direct contradiction of the dedication and sacrifice of the vast majority of our law enforcement communities who strive to protect and serve.

The Williston Police Department strives each day to build trust, and events such as this are a sobering reminder of how quickly that can be lost. We remain committed to protect and serve and to maintaining a safe and secure community in Williston.

Patrick T. Foley Williston Police Chief