1. Voters who move must be sent "challenge letters" so they may be removed from the checklist. Challenge letters must be sent to voters who the board of civil authority believes have moved out of town. 17 V.S.A. §2150 outlines the process to challenge voters and also how to purge voters who have not responded to the challenge letter. These voters may be removed from the checklist if they respond to the challenge letter with permission to remove, if they register to vote in a new town or state, or if they fail to vote in two general elections after the challenge letter has been sent. It is our strong suggestion that each town clerk implement monthly or quarterly reviews of the checklist so that challenge letters are sent soon after a voter moves. Town clerks report that when the challenge letter is sent just after a move, there is a much higher response rate so that the person can be removed from the checklist immediately. For more information, please refer to the election bulletins that provide step-by-step directions to assist towns with the challenge letter process.

2. Towns must affirm that they have completed the challenge process by September of each odd-numbered year. If your town has completed the challenge letter process that is required at a minimum by September of each odd-numbered year, the town clerk must send an email or letter to the Elections Division stating that the challenge process has been completed as required by 17 V.S.A. § 2150(d)(7). If you have not already sent this letter or email, please send it now!

3. Selectboard serve as sewer commissioners unless it decides to constitute a separate board. Vermont law provides that "the selectmen of a town, the trustees of a village, the prudential committee of a fire or lighting district, or the mayor and board of aldermen of a city, shall constitute a board of sewage system commissioners." 24 V.S.A. § 3506. However, the legislative body may vote to create a separate board of sewage system commissioners. If it does so it may not have fewer than three or more than seven members, who must be voters of the municipality. The term of office is four years, and members may be removed by the legislative body for "just cause." 24 V.S.A. § 3506(b).

4. Town may require connection to public sewer system. If a town or city extends its sewer system, it can adopt an ordinance to require that all adjacent property owners connect to the public system and abandon private septic systems. 24 V.S.A. §3509. The sewage commissioners may require the owners of buildings, subdivisions or developments abutting a public street to connect to the municipal sewage system.

5. Voters must vote to collect interest on overdue bills. Water or sewer commissioners can charge interest on delinquent payments for water and/or sewer ONLY if the voters of the municipality have approved an article in the warning to collect interest on overdue water or sewer bills. 24 V.S.A. §5151 and 32 V.S.A. §5136. The article must be voted in the same manner as the vote to collect interest on delinquent taxes, and likewise stays in effect until voted otherwise at a subsequent meeting.

6. Water/sewer commissioners may adjust charges to cover the costs of the service. Vermont law permits the water/sewer department to charge "rates and rents" for the water and sewer service. Unlike the selectboard who must pass a budget and then set the tax rate, the water/sewer commissioners must charge enough to pay the costs of providing water and sewer services. That being said, the money collected for the water and sewer services may be used only to support the water/sewer system. As a practical matter, this means that if they undercharge and have a deficit they can increase the billing rate to make up the difference. 24 V.S.A. § 3507.

7. Municipal audit must include audit of municipal water/sewer system. The annual report for a municipality should include an audit of the municipal sewer and water systems. The report should indicate how much money was collected in "rates and rents" and how much was spent to pay for the cost of running the system and to repay any long term debt. 24 V.S.A. § 1681. In addition, all of the records of the department, including the records of delinquencies are open to public inspection under the public records law. 1 V.S.A. § 316.

8. The majority of members of a planning commission must reside in town. Vermont law does not require every member of the planning commission to live in the town where they serve. So long as a majority of the members are residents, the selectboard may appoint non-residents to serve. The statutes allow non-residents to serve in order to allow the planning commission to have members with special expertise from outside of town. 24 V.S.A. §4322.

9. Planning commissioners serve at the pleasure of the board. A member of a planning commission may be removed at any time by the unanimous vote of the selectboard. 24 V.S.A. §4323(a). The statute does not require that planning commissioners only be removed for cause, consequently the board may remove planning commissioners for any or no reason. Note that elected planning commissioners may not be removed by the board. 24 V.S.A. § 4323(c)(4).

10. There is no statutory requirement that members of the development review board reside in town. 24 V.S.A. §4460. Vermont law is silent about whether members of the DRB must be town residents or voters in the town where they serve. Consequently, the selectboard is not limited in its appointment to this board.

11. DRB members may only be removed for "cause." Unlike members of the planning commission, members of a development review board or zoning board of adjustment are protected from arbitrary removal. The law provides that these board members may only be removed "for cause" by the selectboard after being given written charges and a public hearing. 24 V.S.A. §4460. The reason for this is to prevent the selectboard from trying to influence the outcome of particular permit proceedings by removing or threatening to remove board members.

12. A proposed zoning bylaw, amendment or repeal must be adopted in its entirety according to the procedures set out in 24 V.S.A. §4442. Citizens cannot petition to have a proposed bylaw voted on separately section by section. However, five percent of the legal voters of the town can petition the planning commission to ask for amendment(s) to any section or repeal of any section(s) of the zoning bylaw. 24. V.S.A. §4442.

13. Town clerk/treasurer may serve as village clerk/treasurer. Vermont law permits the same person to be elected to serve as town clerk-treasurer and also as village clerk-treasurer. There is no statutory conflict and in many situations each municipality benefits from the knowledge and experience of the candidate who has already served in one of the positions.

14. Town must separately elect clerk and treasurer. Even though most towns elect one person to serve as both the clerk and treasurer, these positions are separate offices. A person who wishes to run for these offices must submit two separate nominating petitions (for towns which elect officers by Australian ballot.) The ballot must list each office as a separate race, and in towns that vote on the floor, each office must be separately voted. 17 V.S.A. § 2646.

15. Local candidate petitions for office for town meeting must be specific. Vermont law requires candidates to petition to get on the ballot for local office in municipalities that use the Australian ballot system for election of officers. These petitions must clearly indicate the office and the term length for the office the candidate is seeking (particularly when there is more than one position open with different terms of office.) 17 V.S.A. § 2681(b). A candidate cannot circulate a petition for signatures without a term length and then add or change the term length after signatures have been obtained. For example, a candidate cannot circulate a petition for selectboard without indicating which term he or she is seeking. However, it is okay for a person to circulate two or three different petitions for selectboard, one petition for the one year seat, one for the remaining year of a three year term, and one for the three year term, and then wait until the filing deadline to decide which petition to submit to the town clerk.

16. There is no limit on who may request abatement on behalf of a taxpayer. The law does not limit who may request tax abatement on behalf of a taxpayer. It is not unusual for a lister, delinquent tax collector or a family member to make a request on behalf of a taxpayer; however, in most cases it is the taxpayer him or herself, or a person who has a legal interest in the property who requests an abatement of taxes. Generally it is important to have the taxpayer involved for an abatement request to be successful since they will have access to information that will be important for the board to consider when making its decision.

17. Joint petition may be submitted for social service agency funding articles. Vermont statutes require the selectboard to warn articles requesting funding if they are submitted by petition signed by five percent of the legal voters of a town. No law permits the board to limit the scope and content of the articles. 17 V.S.A. § 2642. Consequently, social service agencies may join together in circulating a petition signed by five percent of the legal voters. The petition may include one article that asks for funding for a number of agencies, or it may include several articles asking for funding for different agencies. We generally suggest that social service agencies present each request in a separate article so that the votes for each agency will be taken separately at town meeting, but there is no law that requires this. Indeed, if an article that includes a combined request is voted on the floor the moderator may entertain a motion to divide the question so that each request may be taken up separately. 24 V.S.A. § 2691.

18. Majority of board must vote for motion in order for a board to act. A selectboard must have a majority of the full board vote in favor of a motion in order to pass the motion even if some members of the board are absent or have recused themselves from the vote. 1 V.S.A.§172. For example, a five member selectboard must have at least three members voting in favor of a motion in order for it to pass. If only three members are present and voting, then all three members must vote in favor of the motion in order to take action.

19. School boards may have a majority of those present in order to pass a motion. School boards operate under a special statute, 16 V.S.A. §554, that changes the general rule for board voting so that a school board needs a quorum (majority of the board) to be present, but then only requires the majority of those present to vote in favor of a motion for the motion to pass. For example, on a union high school board composed of 15 total members, if only nine members are present at a meeting, only five members need to vote in favor of a motion for it to pass.

20. Bonding requires special procedures to be followed. The selectboard must pass a resolution of public necessity to begin the process for a bond vote. 24 V.S.A. §1755. All bond votes require special and additional notice and warning to be provided as directed in 24 V.S.A. §1756. The ballots must be prepared as directed in 24 V.S.A. §1758. Selectboards and town clerks must provide copies documenting the various steps to bond counsel. It is wise to confirm that you have covered all the necessary steps for warning with bond counsel before the final time for posting of the warnings.

21. Licensed surveyor may enter property in order to survey property. Vermont statutes provides that in the situation where there is a dispute about the boundaries between abutting parcels, a licensed surveyor, with the necessary assistants employed by a landowner involved in the dispute, may enter the disputed property for the purpose of "running doubtful or disputed lines and locating or searching for monuments, establishing temporary monuments and ascertaining and deciding the location of the lines and monuments of a survey, doing as little damage as possible to the owners of such lands." 27 V.S.A. § 4.

22. Board must decide how it sets meeting agendas. There is no law that sets out how a board is to determine its meeting agenda. The law only requires that some agenda be made available to the public prior to a regular meeting of the board, and that when publicly noticing a special meeting one must articulate the purpose of the meeting. 1 V.S.A. § 312. The board should establish how the board’s agenda is to be determined so that every board member has an opportunity to provide input into the agenda.