The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 24: Municipal and County Government

Chapter 037: Town, City, or Village Managers

• § 1231. “Town” construed; officers

  The word “town” as used in this chapter may be construed to include a city or an incorporated village. Where powers are given to or duties imposed upon a selectboard with reference to a town, the trustees of a village and mayor and board of aldermen of a city shall have the same powers and perform like duties in relation to their respective village or city.

• § 1232. Appointment; union of towns

  The selectboard of a town adopting the provisions of this chapter shall forthwith appoint a general town manager, who may or may not be a resident of the town for which he or she is appointed. Two or more towns may vote to form a union to employ the same manager.

• § 1233. Qualifications; authority of selectboard

  Such a manager shall be selected with special reference to his or her education, training, and experience to perform the duties of such office and without reference to his or her political belief. In all matters he or she shall be subject to the direction and supervision and shall hold office at the will of such selectboard, who, by majority vote, may remove him or her at any time for cause.

• § 1234. Oath; bond

  Before entering upon a manager’s duties, a manager shall be sworn to the faithful performance of the manager’s duties and shall have crime insurance coverage or give a bond to the town in the amount and with the sureties as the selectboard may require. (Amended 2021, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), § 23, eff. July 1, 2022.)

• § 1235. General authority

  Subject to the requirements of this chapter, he or she shall have general supervision of the affairs of the town, be the administrative head of all departments of the town government, and shall be responsible for the efficient administration thereof.

• § 1236. Powers and duties in particular

  The manager shall have authority and it shall be his or her duty:

  (1) To cause duties required of towns and town school districts and not committed to the care of any particular officer, to be duly performed and executed.

  (2) To perform all duties now conferred by law upon the selectboard, except that he or she shall not prepare tax bills, sign orders on the general fund of the town, call special or annual town meetings, lay out highways, establish and lay out public parks, make assessments, award damages, act as member of the board of civil authority, nor make appointments to fill vacancies which the selectboard is now authorized by law to fill; but he or she shall, in all matters herein excepted, render the selectboard such assistance as it shall require.

  (3) To be the general purchasing agent of the town and purchase all supplies for every department thereof; but purchases of supplies for departments over which such manager is not given control, and of the town school district, shall be made according to requisition therefor by such departments or school directors.

  (4) To have charge and supervision of all public town buildings and repairs thereon, and all building undertaken by the town, unless otherwise provided for by the selectboard, shall be done under his or her charge and supervision.

  (5) To perform all the duties now conferred by law upon the road commissioner of the town, including the signing of orders; provided, however, that when an incorporated village lies within the territorial limits of a town which is operating under a town manager, and such village fails to pay to such town for expenditure on the roads of the town outside the village, at least 15 percent of the last highway tax levied in such village, the legal voters residing in such town, outside such village, may elect one or two road commissioners who shall have and exercise all powers of road commissioner within that part of such town as lies outside such village.

  (6) [Repealed.]

  (7) To do all the accounting for all of the departments of the town and of the town school districts when the board of school directors so request.

  (8) To supervise and expend all special appropriations of the town, as if the same were a separate department of the town, unless otherwise provided for by the selectboard.

  (9) To have charge, control, and supervision of the following matters:

  (A) the police department, if any, and shall appoint and may remove the officers thereof and shall fix their salaries;

  (B) the fire department, if any, and shall appoint, fix the compensation of, and may remove all officers and employees thereof;

  (C) the system of licenses, if any, not otherwise regulated by law;

  (D) the system of sewers and drainage, if any, except the making of assessments therefor;

  (E) the lighting of streets, highways, and bridges;

  (F) the sprinkling of streets and highways and laying of dust, except the making of assessments therefor;

  (G) the maintenance of parks and playgrounds.

  (10) To collect all taxes due the town and to perform all the duties now conferred by law upon the collector of taxes, if the town so votes. Such manager shall continue so to do until the town votes otherwise at a meeting duly warned for the purpose of voting on such question. For the collection of taxes, a town manager may charge and collect the same fees as a collector of taxes, and the fees so collected shall be paid into the treasury of the town. (Amended 1967, No. 147, § 53(b), eff. Oct. 1, 1968; 2011, No. 155 (Adj. Sess.), § 9; 2017, No. 130 (Adj. Sess.), § 12.)

• § 1237. Examination of departments

  The selectboard may cause the affairs of any town office or the conduct of any officer or employee thereof to be examined. It may compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and other evidence. The manager shall have access to all town books and papers for information necessary for the proper performance of his or her duties.

• § 1238. Additional duties

  The powers, duties, and liabilities imposed upon any other departments of the town inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter shall be suspended and shall be conferred and imposed upon the manager.

• § 1239. Compensation; how fixed

  The manager shall receive such pay as may be fixed by the selectboard, unless otherwise specifically voted by the town.

• § 1240. Operation of chapter

  The provisions of this chapter shall not become operative in a town unless the same are approved and adopted by a majority of the legal voters of such a town present and voting at an annual or special meeting as hereinafter provided.

• § 1241. Petition; warning

  When voters, in number equal to five percent of the registered voters in town, petition the selectboard in writing to adopt or rescind the town manager form of governance, the warning for the annual or special meeting that shall be called upon such petition shall contain an article in substantially the form set forth in section 1243 of this chapter. (Amended 1985, No. 196 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 2019, No. 67, § 21.)

• § 1242. Revocation

  A town that has adopted the provisions of this chapter may reject the same by a majority vote of the legal voters present and voting at a special or an annual meeting, provided a proper article therefor is inserted in the warning of such meeting. If approved, such a vote shall become effective 30 days after the date of its adoption. (Amended 1985, No. 198 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

• § 1243. Method of voting

  A town may vote at an annual or special meeting to adopt or rescind the provisions of this chapter A vote on the question shall be in substantially the following form:

  “Shall the [town name] [adopt/rescind] the town manager form of governance in accordance with the provisions of chapter 37 of Title 24 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated?” (Amended 2019, No. 67, § 21.)