Selectboard Holds Firm on Zero to Conservation Fund, Approves $2.7 million Budget
by Nancy Wood,
January 27, 2011, page 1.....

Despite a request for compromise by the board of the Charlotte Land Trust (CLT), and an effort by board member Jenny Cole to convince the other members to reconsider at Monday night’s meeting, the Selectboard held firm to its January 10 decision to contribute zero dollars to the Conservation Fund in the fiscal year 2012.

In 1996, the voters authorized the Selectboard “to increase the tax rate by no more than $0.02 for a ten year period to establish a Conservation Fund.” They again voted in 2006, using the same language, to continue for another ten years, and that has been the amount given every year.

Board member Winslow Ladue said on January 10 that when making his decision, he considered the large amount of money already in the fund ($849,000, with $125,000 committed to the Bean Farm project), the evidence that that are no large projects on the immediate horizon, the down economy and feed back from voters about tax rates.

Board Chair Charles Russell said that he had wanted to reduce funding to zero for the current year when it was discussed last summer, but acquiesced to the 2-cent ($185,260) contribution that was made because that was the amount voters were led to expect at Town Meeting 2010. He said that taking a year off from funding was not backing away from a commitment to conservation efforts.

In a letter dated January 18, the CLT said, “We understand that the fund balance is high and that budgets are tight. CLT board members are local taxpayers too, and we support responsible town budgets. For that reason, we were in agreement with the Selectboard’s apparent consensus at a meeting last month to reduce the allocation rate to 1 cent.” They added, “We have re-examined our projected project list and estimate there is good potential for $565,000 in fund requests through the end of FY2011/12 (including the unexpended $125,000 for the Hinsdale-Bean project). This number, together with the good practice of retaining a base (estimated to be roughly $100-200,000) in the fund, makes the current fund balance seem less out of line.”

CLT proposed a compromise of ½ cent on the tax rate, which based on this year’s Grand List would be less than $50,000. Members of the CLT Board include Frances Foster, chair, Bob Bloch, Laura Crandall, Marty Illick, Phillis Kroll, Kate Lampton, Jane Lawlis, Edd merritt, Dave Quickel and Mary Volk.

Larry Hamilton added his concern at Monday’s meeting, saying he felt zero funding sent a negative message about the Selectboard’s support of conservation efforts.

The Selectboard, through straw polls, decided to stay firm with the zero funding, and to include the Conservation Fund, along with other special funds, as line items in the budget to be presented at Town Meeting. This approach is different from prior years when it appeared on the tax calculation page, which is not voted. As a line item, it can be debated along with the rest of the Selectboard’s budget and amendments from the floor to change the amount of the budget can be introduced.

The Selectboard finalized the budget, adding $10,000 to the repair and maintenance fund, and removing $5,000 for fertilizing the Berry Farm baseball field. The final budget amount approved was $2,700,420, including special funds totaling $173,945: Fire & Rescue Capital Fund $138,945 (same as current year), Affordable Housing $30,000 (down from $40,000), Trails $5,000 (new), and zero for the Conservation Fund (down from $185,260).

The general and highway funds are essentially level-funded in the budget, so the estimated tax rate for municipal services will be about 16.8 cents, compared to 18.11 cents for the current year.

In other business at the January 24 meeting, the Selectboard:

• approved a request by Green Mountain Power to replace and add utility poles on Dorset Street and Carpenter Road;
• appointed Seth Zimmerman to the Recreation Committee;
• approved amendments to the Charlotte Housing Trust Fund policies, including increasing the income eligibility for rental units to 80% of Chittenden County median household income