The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 24 Appendix: Municipal Charters

Chapter 269: Village of Poultney

• Subchapter 001: Incorporation and Grant of Powers

• § 101. Corporate existence retained

  The inhabitants of the Village of Poultney, the boundaries of which being identified in Exhibit A hereto, are hereby incorporated and continue to be incorporated and declared to be a body corporate and politic under the name of the Village of Poultney and under that name shall have, exercise, and enjoy all such rights, immunities, powers, and privileges as are conferred upon or are incident to villages in this State and shall be subject to like duties, liabilities, and obligations, except as otherwise provided in this charter.

• § 102. General law application

  Except when changed, enlarged, or modified by the provisions of this charter, all provisions of the statutes of the State of Vermont relating to municipalities shall apply to the Village of Poultney.

• § 103. Powers of the Village

  The Village of Poultney shall have all the powers granted to village and municipal corporations by the Constitution and laws of this State and this charter, together with all the implied powers necessary to carry into execution all the powers granted.

• § 104. Additional powers

  The general grant of authority in section 103 of this charter shall include the following powers, and the enumeration thereof shall not be deemed to be in derogation of the authority conferred by this charter:

  (1) To adopt and enforce ordinances, and to establish penalties for the violation thereof, in accordance with the general laws of the State, and specifically under any general laws of this State regulating zoning, subdivisions, and regional plans as may be enacted from time to time.

  (2) To exercise the right of eminent domain in the taking of property by condemnation for public purposes in accordance with the constitution and general laws of this State.

• § 105. Reservation of powers to the Village

  Nothing in this charter shall be construed to in any way limit the powers and functions conferred on the Village of Poultney, the trustees of said Village, or its elected and appointed officials by general or special enactments of State statutes or regulations in force or effect or hereafter enacted, and the powers and functions conferred by this charter shall be cumulative and in addition to the provisions of such general or special enactments unless this charter otherwise provides.

• § 106. Form of government

  The municipal government provided by this charter shall be known as council-manager form of government. Pursuant to these provisions and subject only to the limitations imposed by the Vermont Constitution and by this charter, all powers of the Village shall be vested in an elective council, hereinafter referred to as the Board of Trustees, who shall execute the laws and administer the government of the Village.

• § 107. Intergovernmental relations

  The Village, through its Board of Trustees, may enter into any agreement with the United States of America or the State of Vermont, or both, or with any subdivision, department, agency, or activity of the United States of America or the State of Vermont, or both, to accept grants, loans, and assistance from the United States of America or the State of Vermont, or both, or from any subdivision, department, agency, or activity of the United States of America or the State of Vermont, or both, to make public improvements within said Village, or upon property or rights of said Village outside its corporate limits, whether owned by said Village as sole owner or owned by said Village in common with another municipality or other municipalities, and may make appropriations consistent with the charter to accomplish such purpose.

• Subchapter 003: Officers

• § 301. General provisions

  The officers of the Village of Poultney shall be those provided by law for towns, except as otherwise provided by this charter. Such officers shall have all the powers and duties necessary to carry out the provisions of this charter as well as those provided by law.

• § 302. Elective officers

  (a) The officers elected at the annual Village meeting or at a special Village meeting duly called and held for that purpose shall be:

  (1) one or more trustees necessary to fill one or more vacancies caused by the expiration of the term(s) established in section 303;

  (2) Village Clerk/Treasurer;

  (3) Village President;

  (4) one auditor necessary to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the term established in subdivision 304(b)(4);

  (5) water and sewer commissioners (in the event the Board of Trustees so direct).

  (b) All elected officers shall be chosen from the legally qualified voters of the Village and shall hold office for the term hereafter specified and until their successors are elected.

  (c) All officers shall be elected by Australian ballot.

  (d) The President shall serve as Village Moderator.

• § 303. Terms of office—trustees

  (a) There shall be three trustees elected at the regular Village meeting in 1994, two for a term of two years, and one for a term of one year. Every year thereafter, there shall be two trustees elected for a two year term, so as to constitute a five-member Board.

  (b) All trustees shall be elected at large, one of whom shall be elected at the annual Village meeting as President.

  (c) Any trustee shall be eligible to succeed himself/herself indefinitely.

  (d) At their first regular meeting following the annual Village meeting, the trustees shall organize themselves, with the President being the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

• § 304. Other elected officers

  (a) Village Clerk/Treasurer. The Village Clerk/Treasurer shall be elected for a one-year term, and whose compensation shall be determined by the Board of Trustees.

  (b) Auditors. Three auditors shall be elected.

  (1) The elected auditors shall be responsible for a full audit of all Village funds. Such audit shall be required at least once a year and shall verify delinquent taxes, disbursement, and receipts.

  (2) The auditors’ duties and rights shall otherwise be as established by the laws of this State.

  (3) A certified public accountant or registered public accountant shall conduct a full audit at least once in every three years. The certified or registered public accountant shall verify delinquent taxes, disbursements, and receipts and shall report to the elected auditors.

  (4) The auditor position shall be for a three year term with one auditor being elected each year.

• § 305. Appointed officers

  (a) The Board of Trustees may appoint any officers, commissioners, or employees required by the Village’s personnel regulations, the general law of this State, or this charter. All appointments shall require as a precondition a job description.

  (b) The Village Manager shall function as the personnel officer of the Village and shall present to the Board of Trustees all candidates for Village positions.

  (c) All matters relating to the hiring, performance, tenure, discipline, and termination of Village employees shall be controlled by personnel policies and plans to be adopted by the Board of Trustees.

• § 306. Vacancies of elected and appointed officers

  (a) When an elected or appointed officer specified herein resigns, makes another town his or her residence, dies, or becomes incapacitated, his or her office shall become vacant. A person who fills such a vacancy shall serve until his or her predecessor’s term expires. The Village Manager shall cause to be published in a newspaper of general local circulation notice of such vacancy.

  (b) Any resident may, within 10 days of the publication, submit his or her name to the Village Manager as an applicant for the vacancy. The names of all applicants shall be entered in the minutes of the next regularly scheduled trustees’ meeting.

  (c) At the first regular meeting of the Board of Trustees following the expiration of the period set forth in subsections 306(a) and 306(b), the trustees shall fill the vacancy from the list of applicants. Said appointment shall be for the remainder of the unexpired term unless this charter provides otherwise.

  (d) A vacancy in the Office of Village President shall be filled by a member of the Board of Trustees, to be appointed by the Board.

• § 307. Bonding of officers

  All officers of the Village required to be bonded by State law shall be so bonded.

• § 308. Oath of office

  All elected and appointed officials and all police officers of the Village shall, before assuming office, take, subscribe, and file with the Village Clerk the following oath:

  “I ____ solemnly swear (or affirm) that I shall faithfully execute the Office of ________ of the Village of Poultney to the best of my judgment and abilities, according to law, so help me God (or I so affirm).”

• § 309. Compensation

  Salaries of employees and appointed officers of the Village shall be in accordance with a contract negotiated between the Village and an employee or group of employees for a specified term.

• Subchapter 005: Trustees

• § 501. Powers and duties

  (a) The members of the Board of Trustees shall constitute the legislative body of the Village of Poultney for all purposes required by law.

  (b) While the Board of Trustees shall establish policies governing the management of Village affairs, it shall be the sole duty and responsibility of the Village Manager to implement Village policies and supervise the day-to-day operation of Village government.

• § 502. Organization

  (a) The Board of Trustees shall conduct its business in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order.

  (b) Three trustees shall constitute a quorum. No action of such board shall be valid or binding unless adopted by the affirmative vote of at least two trustees. In cases where a statute requires a greater number of the Board for an affirmative vote, such provisions of law shall control.

  (c) The Board of Trustees shall warn and conduct their meetings as provided by the general laws of the State relating to open meetings of public bodies.

  (d) The Village President shall be the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

• § 503. Record of proceedings

  (a) It shall be the duty of the Board of Trustees to cause to be kept an official record of its proceedings.

  (b) The minutes of each meeting shall be approved by the trustees and shall be filed in the Village Clerk’s office. A duly certified copy of such minutes, attesting to the accuracy thereof, shall constitute the official record of the meeting and shall constitute prima-facie evidence of the action taken.

• Subchapter 007: Village Manager

• § 701. Appointed by trustees

  The Board of Trustees shall appoint a Village Manager whose responsibilities, powers, and terms of employment shall be as provided by State law.

• § 702. Tax Collector

  The Village Manager shall be the Village Tax Collector.

• Subchapter 009: Commissioners and Appointments

• § 901. Appointments

  The Board of Trustees may appoint and compensate commissions, officers, committees, and employees as needed and delegate incidental powers necessary for their proper functioning as established by law.

• Subchapter 010: Water and Sewer

• § 1001. Water and sewer systems; duties of trustees

  Until such time as a separate Board(s) of Water and Sewer Commissioners shall be established, the Board of Trustees shall act as such commissioners.

• § 1002. Water and sewer systems; extraterritorial service

  The Water and Sewer Commissioner may contract with persons for the provision of water and sewer services to property located without the boundaries of the Village, the charges therefor to be a lien upon the property so served to the same extent as if the property were located within the boundaries of the Village.

• Subchapter 011: Village Meeting

• § 1101. Application of general laws

  Provisions of the laws of this State relating to preparation for, conduct, and management of Village meetings and elections shall, so far as they may be applicable, govern all municipal elections and all annual and special Village meetings except as otherwise provided in this charter.

• § 1102. Polling places

  In any annual or special Village meeting for the purpose of the election of officers and the voting on all public questions to be decided by Australian ballot, such polling places as needed shall be established by those officers charged by State law with such responsibility.

• § 1103. Postponement and combining of Village meeting

  (a) The trustees may postpone the vote on any question to be voted at a special Village meeting to the annual meeting if the special meeting falls within 120 days of the annual meeting.

  (b) If a special Village meeting falls within 120 days of another special Village meeting called by petition, the trustees may warn the questions to be voted at the first Village meeting for the later Village meeting and may by resolution rescind the call of the earlier meeting.

• § 1104. Voting question by Australian ballot

  All public questions shall be voted by Australian ballot at any annual meeting or at any special Village meeting called on motion of the trustees or by petition. A public question voted by Australian ballot shall be preceded by a public informational meeting, to start at seven thirty o’clock in the evening of the day preceding that on which the polls are to be opened. The warning for the special Village meeting to vote by Australian ballot shall include a notice of the time and place of the informational meeting.

• § 1105. Annual meeting; date and time

  The annual meeting of the Village for the consideration of all matters to be voted upon shall be held on the second Tuesday in May, commencing at seven thirty o’clock in the afternoon, commencing in the year 1993. Annual and special meetings of the Village at which voting shall be conducted by Australian ballot shall commence at ten o’clock in the forenoon and close at seven o’clock in the evening.

• § 1106. Village report

  The contents of the Village report shall be the responsibility of the Village auditors except as otherwise provided for in this charter.

• Subchapter 013: Health, Zoning, and Planning

• § 1301. Applicability of State law to Poultney zoning and planning

  All matters pertaining to zoning, land subdivision, municipal and regional plans shall be exclusively controlled by the laws of the State of Vermont.

• Subchapter 015: Budget and Taxation

• § 1501. Fiscal year

  The fiscal year shall commence on the first day of July and end on the last day of June.

• § 1502. Preparation and submission of budget and Village report

  (a) The Village Manager, at least 60 days before the date of the annual Village meeting, shall submit to the trustees a budget that shall contain:

  (1) A statement of the financial condition of the Village as of the end of the fiscal year and as of the date of submission of the budget.

  (2) An itemized statement of appropriations recommended for current expenses and for capital improvements during the next fiscal year with comparative statements in parallel columns of appropriations and estimated expenditures for the current fiscal year and actual appropriations and expenditures for the preceding fiscal year.

  (3) An itemized statement of estimated revenues from all sources, other than taxation, for the next fiscal year; a statement of estimated taxes required for the next fiscal year; and comparative figures of tax and other sources of revenue for the current and the preceding fiscal year.

  (4) A statement of the short- and long-term indebtedness of the Village.

  (5) A listing of delinquent taxpayers.

  (6) Such other information as may be required by the Board of Trustees or law.

  (b) The trustees’ budget in its final form and the warning of the meeting shall be made available to the legal voters of the Village in an annual Village report at least 14 days prior to the annual Village meeting.

• § 1503. Appropriations

  The Village at the annual meeting, or a special meeting called for that purpose, shall adopt a budget that shall include the proposed expenditures of each department for the coming fiscal year, and adoption of a budget at such meeting shall be deemed an appropriation to each department of the sum allotted in the budget for such department. The amounts stated in the budget, and as approved by the Village, shall become appropriated to the several agencies, departments, and purposes therein named.

• § 1504. Amount to be raised by taxation

  Upon approval of the budget under section 1503, the amounts stated therein as the amount to be raised by property taxes, reduced by cash surplus from excess collected property taxes, fees, charges, fines, and interest, if any, as indicated by the statement of the Village auditors, shall constitute a determination of the amount of the levy for the purposes of the Village in the corresponding tax year, and the trustees shall levy such taxes on the grand list furnished by the listers of the Village of Poultney for the corresponding tax year.

• § 1505. Budget limitations—borrowing

  (a) The incurring of bonded indebtedness, the issuing of bonds, the making of temporary loans in anticipation of the sale of bonds, and all other matters pertaining to bonded indebtedness and borrowing for current expenses or in anticipation of the receipt of taxes shall be controlled by applicable statutes.

  (b) The Village, by vote at an annual or special meeting, may borrow money under such terms and conditions and for such lawful municipal purposes as the Village shall vote.

  (c) The trustees, in the name of the Village, may borrow funds in anticipation of federal and State funds that have been approved and committed. Any debt so incurred for a project shall be repaid from the first federal or State funds received for that project.

• § 1506. Transfers of appropriations

  At any time within the fiscal year, the Board of Trustees may transfer funds from single budget line items to other budget line items. A budget line item will be an individual budget item listed on the budget presented and approved under section 1503.

• § 1507. Taxation

  (a) Taxes on real and personal property shall be paid as voted at the annual Village meeting.

  (b) Taxes shall be collected as established by law.

  (c) Taxes are due October 1st; and taxes unpaid by November 1st shall be considered delinquent property taxes and shall accrue penalty, interest, fees, and costs to the maximum extent permitted by law, and all such penalty, interest, fees, and costs shall be paid over to the Village Treasurer for inclusion in the General Fund of the Village.

  (d) The Village shall have a Board of Abatement with powers enumerated under State law.

• § 1508. Fees and fines

  All fines and penalties payable to the Village by reason of any violation of any State law, ordinance, or bylaw shall be paid over promptly upon receipt to the Village Treasurer for inclusion in the General Fund of the Village. All fees established by law or ordinance and payable to any Village officer shall be paid over promptly upon receipt to the Village Treasurer for inclusion in the General Fund of the Village. Fees collected on behalf of the State shall be transferred to the State Treasurer.

• Subchapter 017: General Provisions

• § 1701. Severability

  If any provision of this charter is held invalid, the other provisions of the charter shall not be affected thereby.

• § 1702. Continuance in office and employment

  All officers and employees of the Village shall remain in their positions from and after the date that this charter takes effect.

• § 1703. Pending matters

  All rights, claims, actions, orders, contracts, and legal or administrative proceedings shall continue except as modified pursuant to the provisions of this charter and in each case shall be maintained, carried on, or dealt with by the Village department, office, or agency appropriate under this charter, under the supervision of the Board of Trustees.

• § 1704. Municipal laws

  All Village ordinances, resolutions, bylaws, orders, and regulations that are in force at the time this charter becomes fully effective shall remain in full force and effect excepting only those ordinances, resolutions, orders, and regulations that are inconsistent with this charter or with each other.

• § 1705. Amendment of charter

  This charter may be amended as set forth by the general law of this State.

• § 1706. Reference to statute

  If any matter mentioned in this charter is said to be controlled by a special statute, the reference to the statute shall include the statute as amended or renumbered or any statute substituted therefor and having a similar subject matter.

• § 1707. Penalties; forfeitures of suits not affected

  This charter shall not affect a penalty or forfeiture incurred under any process or to this charter, nor any suit or proceeding had or commenced in a civil or criminal cause before this charter takes effect, but the proceedings therein shall, when necessary, conform to the provisions of this charter, nor this charter affect any claim or defense with respect to any cause of action or criminal violation accruing on or before the effective date hereof.

• § 1708. Annexation and merger

  All matters relating to the enlargement of the geographical limits of the Village and the merger of the Village with one or more municipal corporations shall be controlled by the laws of the State.

• § 1709. Acts amended

  The provisions of this charter shall amend No. 198 of the Acts of 1886, as amended by No. 86 of the Acts of 1890, No. 199 of the Acts of 1898, No. 186 of the Acts of 1900, No. 241 of the Acts of 1904, No. 276 of the Acts of 1908, No. 315 of the Acts of 1910, No. 328 of the Acts of 1912, No. 261 of the Acts of 1919, No. 304 of the Acts of 1921, No. 211 of the Acts of 1923, No. 195 of the Acts of 1933, and No. 339 of the Acts of 1957.

• § 1710. Continuation of acts amended

  The provisions of this charter, so far as they are the same as those of acts hereby amended, shall be construed as a continuation of such acts and not as new enactments.

• § 1711. [Transitional provisions relating to the repeal of inconsistent acts]

• § 1712. Provisions

  The territorial limits of the Village may be enlarged in the manner provided by the general laws of this State.

• § 1713. [Transitional provisions relating to effective date]