§ 3671. Policy
It is the policy of the State to authorize two or more contiguous towns or other municipal
corporations to join together to establish a consolidated sewer district for the purpose
of developing, acquiring, or improving a sewage system for the purpose of disposing
of the sewage from the district. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 1a, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3672. Definitions
(a) As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings
unless the context indicates another or different meaning or intent:
(1) “Town” means any municipality within the meaning of 1 V.S.A. § 126.
(2) “Sewage system” includes such equipment, pipeline systems, and facilities as are needed
for and appurtenant to the treatment or disposal of sewage and waters, including sewage
treatment plants and separate pipelines and structural or nonstructural facilities
as are needed for and appurtenant to the treatment or disposal of storm, surface,
and subsurface waters, and all properties, rights, easements, and franchises relating
thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by the sewer commission for the operation
thereof.
(3) “Sewage” means the used water supply of a community, including such groundwater, surface,
and stormwater as may or may not be mixed with liquid wastes from the community.
(4) “Stormwater” means the excess water from rainfall.
(5) “Surface water” means water other than stormwater flowing or standing on or over the
surface of the ground.
(6) “Groundwater” means water existing beneath the surface of the ground.
(7) “Improvements” means such repairs, replacements, additions, extensions, and betterments
of and to a sewage system as are deemed necessary by the sewer commissioners to place
or maintain such system in proper condition for its safe, efficient, and economic
operation or to meet requirements for service in such areas which may be served by
the district and for which no existing service is being rendered.
(8) “Costs” as applied to a sewage system include the purchase price of any such system,
the cost of construction, the cost of all labor, materials, machinery, and equipment,
the cost of improvements, the cost of all lands, property, rights, easements, and
franchises acquired, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction
and, if deemed advisable by the sewer commissioners for one year after completion
of construction, cost of plans and specifications, surveys, and estimates of cost
and of revenues, cost of engineering and legal services, and all other expenses necessary
or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of such construction.
(b) A consolidated sewer district shall be deemed to be a municipality within the meaning
of 1 V.S.A. § 126. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 1b, eff. March 22, 1968; amended 2001, No. 109 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, eff. May 16, 2002.)
§ 3673. Organization and operation—Establishment of consolidated sewer district
(a) When a majority of the voters of each town of a proposed consolidated sewer district
present and voting in each case by Australian ballot at a town meeting duly warned
for that purpose for the same day and during the same hours that shall be at least
eight consecutive hours shall vote to join with one or more neighboring towns as specified
in the warning for the purpose of forming a consolidated sewer district as provided
under this chapter, vote shall thereupon be certified by the clerk of each town to
the Secretary of State; and when all towns proposed as members of the consolidated
sewer district as specified in such vote shall have so affirmatively voted and the
results thereon shall have been certified to the Secretary of State, the Secretary
of State shall thereupon file the same in his or her office and shall send a written
notice to the clerk of each town to be included in the consolidated sewer district
that the requirements of this section have been met by each town in the said district.
Upon the filing of such records in the Office of the Secretary of State, such consolidated
sewer district shall become a body politic and corporate with the powers incident
to a public corporation and such records shall be notice to all parties of the establishment
of such consolidated sewer district with all the powers incident to such a district
as herein provided; and such filing shall be prima facie evidence that the requirements
for the creation of a consolidated sewer district as herein set forth have been fully
complied with. A consolidated sewer district may sue and be sued and may hold and
convey real estate and personal estate for the use of the district and shall have
and may exercise the powers and be subject to the duties and obligations of a municipal
corporation provided for in 10 V.S.A. chapter 55 and chapters 97 and 101 of this title so far as the same may be applicable and except
as otherwise provided in this chapter.
(b) A consolidated sewer district may enter into agreements with the State or federal
government or any agency of either or any corporation, commission or board authorized
by the State or federal government to grant or loan money to or otherwise assist in
the financing of projects that a consolidated sewer district is authorized to carry
out, and to accept grants and borrow money from any such agency, corporation, commission,
or board, as may be necessary or desirable to carry out the purposes of this chapter. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. March 22, 1968; amended 1971, No. 97, § 1, eff. April 22, 1971.)
§ 3674. Organizational meeting
(a) Within 60 days after the Secretary of State has notified the clerks of the member
towns that the requirements of section 3673 of this title have been met, the voters in such consolidated sewer district shall meet to organize
the district. The meeting shall be warned by the chair of the legislative body of
each town of the district or by a member designated by his or her respective board
to act in the chair’s stead, and shall state the day, hour, and place within the district
where the meeting will be held and shall be posted in not less than six public places
in the district including at least two public places within each member town thereof
and shall be published three times in a newspaper circulating therein, the last publication
to be at least six days previous to the day of the meeting. The meeting shall be
called to order by the clerk of the town in which the meeting is held, whereupon a
temporary presiding officer and clerk shall be elected from among the qualified voters.
At the organizational meeting or an adjournment thereof, the district shall elect
a moderator and a permanent clerk, shall determine the number of sewer commissioners
constituting the board of sewer commissioners and shall elect a board of sewer commissioners,
who shall be the legislative branch, a treasurer, and three auditors. All officers
elected at the organizational meeting shall hold office until others are elected and
qualified following the first annual meeting. The total number of sewer commissioners
and the number from each member town may be agreed upon by the several member towns
in advance of the organizational meeting or in the absence of such agreement shall
be set by the organizational meeting at not less than three, including at least one
from each member town. Sewer commissioners elected at the organizational meeting
shall be elected from nominations made by the several member towns at their most recent
annual or special meeting, if such nominations have been made. Sewer commissioners
to serve on the board of sewer commissioners of the consolidated district following
the first annual meeting shall be elected by the member towns at their own annual
or special meetings. Such elections shall be by Australian ballot in those member
towns which elect their respective legislative branches by Australian ballot. All
other consolidated sewer district officers shall be elected by the consolidated district.
When there is only one nominee for any of the aforementioned offices, the voters may,
by acclamation, instruct an officer to elect the nominee by casting one ballot, and
upon the ballot being cast the nominee shall be declared to be legally elected.
(b) At the organizational meeting or at an adjournment thereof, the district may further
authorize its board of sewer commissioners to pay any expense incurred by or on behalf
of the district in the period between the date on which the member towns voted to
join the district and the first annual meeting of the district. The word “expense”
as used in this chapter shall include the cost of architects, surveyors, engineers,
contractors, lawyers, or experts as well as current operating expenses to be incurred
by the district from its organizational meeting until its first annual meeting. The
district may authorize its board of sewer commissioners to borrow money pending receipt
of payments from the member towns as hereinafter provided by the issuance of its notes
or orders payable not later than one year from the date. At the organizational meeting
the district shall further select a name for the district, determine compensation,
if any, to be paid to its officers, determine the date on which its annual meeting
shall be held (which shall not be earlier than October 1 or later than December 31),
and adopt a seal. A certified copy of the vote designating the name of the consolidated
sewer district shall be forthwith filed by the clerk of the district with the Secretary
of State.
(c) All district officers elected at an annual meeting and sewer commissioners elected
by their constituent towns shall enter upon their duties on April 1 following their
election, unless a different date is set at an annual meeting. A vacancy occurring
in any district office caused by death, resignation, removal from the district, or
incapacity of an officer to carry his or her duties, shall be temporarily filled by
the board of sewer commissioners within 10 days after the vacancy occurs and until
the date when the newly elected officers take office. The vacancy shall be filled
at the next annual meeting of the district. The term of office of the sewer commissioners
and the auditors shall be three years and all other officers one year. At the first
annual meeting, the terms of office of the commissioners shall be divided by agreement;
if possible by lot, if not, one-third expiring after one year, and one-third expiring
after two years, or as nearly as may be. At the first annual meeting one auditor
shall be elected for one year and one auditor for two years, and thereafter for three
years or until their successors are chosen and qualified.
(d) The fiscal year of a consolidated sewer district shall be the calendar year. If the
change in the date of an annual meeting is to be made, a notice of the proposed change
shall be inserted in the warning of the annual meeting. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3675. Warnings of meeting
(a) Meetings shall be warned by the clerk, or in case of his or her inability to act,
by a majority of the sewer commissioners, by posting a notice thereof, specifying
the time, place, and business of the meeting, in not less than five public places
in the district, including at least one public place in each member town, at least
10 days before the time therein specified and by causing the same to be published
in a paper circulating in the district, the publication to be not less than 10 days
before the date of the meeting, and the warning shall be recorded in the office of
the clerk before being posted.
(b) Any meeting called for the purpose of considering a bond issue shall be warned as
provided for in chapter 53, subchapter 1 of this title.
(c) The sewer commissioners shall have the same authority and obligation to warn or call
meetings of the district as the selectboard members have to warn or call town meetings. (Added 1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3676. Eligibility of voters
Persons residing within the limits of the district, who are qualified voters in their
town meetings, shall be voters in the district meeting. The moderator, clerk, and
members of the board of sewer commissioners shall decide all questions as to the eligibility
of a person to vote at a district meeting. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3677. Check list
The clerk of each town within a consolidated sewer district shall furnish to the clerk
of the district, at the expense of the district, authenticated copies of the check
lists of legal voters within the town as the same appears after revision of the check
list before the last town meeting, annual or special, preceding the date of the district
meeting, which check list shall control for the purposes of determining the voters
eligible to vote at the district meeting. Whenever a matter, including bond issues
under chapter 53, subchapter 1 of this title, is to be determined by ballot or voting
machine, the regular polling places within the district shall be used. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3678. Record of proceedings
The clerk shall keep a record of the votes and the proceedings of the district meetings
and give certified copies thereof when required. A clerk who neglects to perform
his or her duty shall forfeit $20.00 to the district, to be recovered in a civil action
on this statute. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3679. Finances—Sewer rates; application of revenue
(a) The board of sewer commissioners of a consolidated sewer district shall establish
rates for the sewer service and all individuals, firms, and corporations whether private,
public, or municipal shall pay to the treasurer of the district the rates established
by the board. The manner of establishment of the rates shall be in accord with section
3616 of this title. The rates shall be so established as to provide revenue for the
following purposes:
(1) to pay current expenses for operating and maintaining the sewer system;
(2) to provide for the payment of interest on the indebtedness created by the district;
(3) to provide each year a sum equal to not less than two percent nor more than five percent
of the entire indebtedness created or assumed by the district to pay for the cost
of the sewer system and improvements thereto, which sum shall be used to pay indebtedness
maturing in that year or turned into a sinking fund and there kept to provide for
the extinguishment of indebtedness of the district;
(4) if any surplus remains at the end of the year, it may be turned into the sinking fund
or used to pay the cost of improvements to the sewer system.
(b) The money set aside for the sinking fund and any increment thereon shall be devoted
to the retirement of obligations of the district or invested in such securities as
savings banks or fiduciaries or trustees are now or hereafter allowed to hold. The
balance of revenue, if any, required to meet expenses shall be apportioned among and
collected from member towns as herein provided.
(c) When a rate established under this section for the management of stormwater is applied
to property owned, controlled, or managed by the Agency of Transportation, the rate
shall not exceed the highest rate category applicable to other properties in the municipality,
and the Agency of Transportation shall receive a 35 percent credit on the rate. The
Agency of Transportation shall receive no other credit on the rate from the consolidated
sewer district. (Added 1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. March 22, 1968; amended 2015, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), § 31, eff. June 2, 2016; 2023, No. 143 (Adj. Sess.), § 14, eff. July 1, 2024.)
§ 3680. Annual budget, apportionment, assessment, taxes
(a) The board of sewer commissioners of the district shall at each annual meeting present
to the district its budget for the ensuing year, which shall include an estimate of
the revenue from sewer rates and other sources, except taxes and the expenses for
the ensuing year and the district shall appropriate such sum as it deems necessary
for the expenses as are not disapproved (which disapproval may not include interest
on or principal of any indebtedness created or assumed by the district), together
with the amount required to pay any balance left unpaid from the preceding year as
will not be met from the estimated revenues, expressing the sum in dollars in its
vote. At its first annual meeting the district shall likewise vote a sum sufficient
to pay any unpaid balance of expense, as defined in section 3674 of this title, which has been theretofore incurred by or on behalf of the district. Immediately
following the annual meeting, the board of sewer commissioners shall compute the share
of each member town in the sums so voted and give notice of the amount thereof to
the legislative branch of each member town.
(b) The expense of establishing, acquiring, maintaining, extending, improving, and operating
a sewer system for a consolidated sewer district shall, insofar as the expense shall
not be met from the proceeds of indebtedness or from sewer rates, rents or other charges
received from the use of such sewer system, be divided among the member towns in accordance
with a formula agreed to by the member towns by vote at an annual or special town
meeting or in the absence of any such agreement as follows: two-thirds of such expense
shall be divided in the proportion which the total sewage flow to the inhabitants
of each member town of the district bears to the total sewage flow in all the member
towns in the last preceding full calendar year of operation of the district and the
balance of such expense (or all of such expense until the sewage system has been in
operation for at least one full calendar year) shall be divided among the member towns
in the proportion which the population of each member town according to the last rental
census bears to the total population of the district.
(c) The legislative branch of each member town shall, upon receipt of the notice of the
share in the district expenses to be paid by the member town, assess upon the grand
list of each member town, in addition to any tax previously voted thereon, a tax sufficient
to raise the member town’s share in the expenses. The additional tax as so assessed
shall be collected as are other taxes of the member town and be deposited in the account
of the member town. The legislative branch of the member town shall order the additional
tax to be paid over to the treasurer of the district as collected by the twentieth
of the month after the taxes become payable. If by the end of its fiscal year a member
town has failed to collect and pay over to the treasurer of the district a sum sufficient
to pay the member’s share of the expenses of the district, the legislative branch
of the member town shall assess a special tax of five percent on the grand list of
the member town, or a multiple thereof as is necessary to make up the unpaid balance
of the share, which special tax shall be collected as are other taxes of the member
town. Upon the collection of the special tax, it shall be paid over to the treasurer
of the district. If by the end of its fiscal year a member town fails to pay its
share of the expenses of the district, or fails to make up a deficit therein from
the preceding year as provided under this chapter, the board of sewer commissioners
of the district may bring a civil action on this statute in the name of the district
to recover from the member town twice the amount of the share of the member town that
remains unpaid, and upon judgment may levy its execution against any of the real or
personal property within the member town. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 9, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3681. Special tax assessment for payment of execution
When a demand is made upon the district for the payment of an execution issued against
it and the district has no available funds to pay the same, the board of sewer commissioners
shall compute the share of each member town in such execution, with costs, interest,
and other charges, to be paid by it in accordance with the agreement among the member
towns or the formula established in section 3679 of this title, and shall give notice of the amount thereof to the legislative branch of each member
town. The member town through its proper officer shall forthwith pay to the treasurer
of the district its share of the execution and any charges. If the member town has
insufficient funds to pay its share, its legislative branch shall forthwith assess
and have collected a tax sufficient to pay the same in the manner its other taxes
are assessed and collected. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3682. Debts and liabilities of member towns
No debt or liabilities of a town that is a member of the district shall accrue against
the district. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 11, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3683. Tax exemption
Property of a consolidated sewer district shall be exempt from all taxation by any
town. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 12, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3684. Indebtedness
(a) General obligations. A consolidated sewer district may incur indebtedness as provided by chapter 53, subchapter
1 of this title and by chapter 101 of this title for the purpose of paying the cost
of a sewer system and improvements to the sewer system or for funding or refunding,
including the payment of premium, any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness issued
or assumed by the district. The limits on indebtedness in chapter 53 of this title
or otherwise shall not apply to indebtedness incurred or assumed by a consolidated
district for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) Joint and several obligations. Obligations incurred under chapter 53, subchapter 1 of this title and chapter 101
of this title by a consolidated sewer district shall be the joint and several obligations
of the district and the member towns composing it. However, as among the member towns,
their respective shares of the obligation shall be apportioned and paid in the manner
provided in this chapter. Any joint or several liability incurred by a member town
under this chapter shall not be considered in determining its debt limit for its separate
purposes. Notwithstanding the limitations in sections 1755 and 1759 of this title, bonds or other evidences of indebtedness of a consolidated sewer district may be
authorized by a majority of the voters present and voting on the question at a district
meeting, may be paid in not more than 30 years from their date of issue, may be made
callable at the option of the district with or without premium, and the serial maturities
of those bonds or evidences of indebtedness may be so arranged that beginning with
the first year in which principal is payable, the amount of principal and interest
payable in any year shall be as nearly equal as is practicable according to the denominations
in which the bonds or other evidences of indebtedness are issued.
(c) Obligations payable solely from revenue. In addition to authority granted in this section, a consolidated sewer district may
issue bonds or other evidences of indebtedness under chapter 53, subchapter 2 of this
title. However, no such bonds payable solely from revenues shall be issued while the
district has outstanding any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness for which the
district and the member towns are jointly and severally liable as provided in this
chapter, except notes or other evidences of indebtedness issued temporarily in anticipation
of revenue. (Added 1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 13, eff. March 22, 1968; amended 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 268.)
§ 3685. Changes in membership—Inclusion of additional towns
(a) When a majority of voters of a town, present and voting at a meeting duly warned for
that purpose, shall vote to apply to a neighboring consolidated sewer district for
admission as a member of the district, the vote shall thereupon be certified by the
clerk of the town to the clerk of the consolidated sewer district and to the Secretary
of State. Such vote and certification if accepted by the consolidated district within
two years after the date of the vote shall be binding on the town without the subsequent
vote in the town contemplated in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) When it appears to the board of sewer commissioners that the boundaries of the consolidated
sewer district should be changed to include another town, they may insert an article
fully describing the proposed change in the warning for a regular or special meeting
of the district, which proposed change shall state the number of additional members
to be added to the board of sewer commissioners if such change is approved.
(c) When a majority of the voters voting at such meeting vote to include an additional
town within the boundaries of the consolidated sewer district as a member thereof,
the board of sewer commissioners shall notify the legislative body of the additional
town of the vote. Thereupon the legislative body of the additional town shall duly
warn a meeting thereof, setting forth in such warning the vote of the consolidated
sewer district and the proposed change in its boundaries. If a majority of the voters
voting at the meeting of the additional town vote to be included within the district,
the result of the vote and the result of the vote already taken by the consolidated
sewer district shall be certified to the Secretary of State, who shall record the
same in his or her office. A certificate of such record shall immediately be filed
by the Secretary of State in the office of the clerk of the consolidated sewer district
and of any additional town to be included therein as a member thereof, which filing
shall be notice to all parties of the addition to the consolidated district.
(d) The consolidated sewer district as so enlarged shall thereupon have all the powers
and responsibilities given it by this chapter. Any vacancy on the board of sewer
commissioners created as a result of the increase in the number thereof shall be filled
as provided in section 3674 of this title. The additional member town shall share in the expenses of the district in the proportion
provided in this chapter for other member towns from the date the certificate of the
Secretary of State is filed in the office of the clerk of the district and the office
of the clerk of the additional town. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 14, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3686. Withdrawal from district
(a) A town that is a member of a consolidated sewer district may vote to withdraw from
the district if one year has elapsed since the district has become a body politic
and corporate as provided in section 3673 of this title and if the consolidated sewer district has not voted to bond itself for construction
or improvements. Any vote to withdraw before the expiration date of one year or after
the district has voted bonds or other form of long term obligation shall be null and
void.
(b) When a majority of the voters of a town present and voting at a town meeting duly
warned for that purpose shall vote to withdraw from a consolidated sewer district,
the vote shall thereupon be certified by the clerk of the town to the Secretary of
State who shall thereupon record such certificate in his or her office, and the membership
of the withdrawing town in the consolidated sewer district shall be at an end as of
December 31 immediately following or as soon thereafter as the obligations of the
withdrawing town as incurred under this chapter have been paid to the district. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 15, eff. March 22, 1968.)
§ 3687. Eligibility for State aid
A consolidated sewer district formed under this chapter shall be eligible to receive
State aid as provided in 10 V.S.A. chapter 55 and under the terms, conditions, and
procedures set forth in these chapters. (1967, No. 318 (Adj. Sess.), § 16, eff. March 22, 1968; amended 1971, No. 97, § 2, eff. April 22, 1971.)