8/29/24 dispatch
Catching you up on what's being going on during the past two weeks:
Tax rate
At the last Selectboard meeting, our Finance Director Robert Densmore gave a presentation on tax rates and the board approved the new municipal tax rates. I'm attaching the rates for both the Town and the Village. These will also be available on the website soon. As you may know, most of our tax bill is the state education tax, and for Woodstock homestead owners, that rate is increasing by over 30% this year. This greatly limits the municipality's ability to raise taxes for necessary expenses - like infrastructure and staffing.
Two other points to highlight:
1. Special articles added over $200K to our tax rate last year. The threshold for these to appear on the ballot is low and I have yet to see a fundraising article fail. A few of these organizations have funding already included into our operating budget - Rec Center, Norman Williams Public Library, Pentangle Arts, and the Thompson Senior Center. While many of the special articles fund organizations that are impactful in our community, it has been suggested by a more than a few of you that we conduct a more thorough vetting of these organizations (especially those that appear on both sides of the ballot) since many have diverse sources of revenue (membership fees, private donations, grant funding, endowments, etc).
2. I asked the Municipal Manager to investigate a more efficient way to collect delinquent property taxes. We have a backlog and I hope we could claw back some of it to help our ever growing list of expenses.
Firetrucks
Chief Green came before the board again last Tuesday to make his case for purchasing two new trucks - an engine and a ladder truck. The impetus for these requests has to deal with their age and a potential new OSHA requirement dictating how often trucks need to be replaced, as well as our ISO rating which impacts insurance rates. While our engine is due for replacement, Woodstock hasn't had a ladder truck since 1998. Hartford, Killington, and Lebanon all have ladder trucks and we already participate in mutual aid with those towns (of course, they are all roughly 30 minutes away). The trucks have a 4-5 year lead time, so ordering the trucks sooner than later allows us to lock in the price right now and pay later. However, we have many upcoming expenses...
The next step is a publicly warned vote (and hopefully some public input) on whether or not to move forward with the purchase(s).
Main Wastewater Treatment Plant
The bond vote on the main Wastewater Treatment Plant renovation/upgrades is tentatively planned for Town Meeting Day 2025. We are still working out the best payment allocation for sewer users and non-users. As a quick refresher, these upgrades are state mandated and the entire Town would be on the hook for any penalties for not meeting our permits.
We did learn from Hoyle Tanner about something called an I/I investigation which could determine where flow is being lost in the system. This could lead to adding capacity by simply addressing the inefficiencies in the current system, but we won't know until we do it. And of course, it has to be done in warm weather. Still, let's take the wins where we can get them.
Board Goals
The Selectboard and Trustees met on Wednesday morning to start conversations around priorities and goals. This discussion was prompted by our Municipal Manager's presentation in June in which he challenged the boards to stop spending so much time on small things and more time tackling big things, if you will (I'm oversimplifying). We nailed down three priorities: Housing/Development, Affordability, and Increase Efficiency/Effectiveness. The next step is agreeing to specific measurable goals that we think can be achieved in the next year.
Reminder for OFRA input
The Planning Commission is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, September 4th at 7pm to continue discussing the square footage requirement (2800 sq. ft.) in the On Farm Restaurant Amendment. I encourage you to attend as the Commission is leaning on public input to help craft their recommendation. And please remember that the amendment applies to all On Farm restaurant applications.
School is in session
Teachers don't want staff pizza parties. They want help. (Ok, maybe they want both)
Please consider substitute teaching.
East End Community Celebration
Save the Date: Sept 8th 2-5pm. Music. Drinks. Fire Department Chicken. What more could you ask for?
Related reading/listening:
Yes in My Back Yard, The Vermont Standard (republished by Sustainable Woodstock)
Cape Cod Offers a Harbinger of America’s Economic Future, The Atlantic (thanks to Greta Thomas for sharing)
The Bottom of the Bowl, 99% Invisible
Per usual, this is longer than I intended. Is it too long? Be honest.
