The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 24 Appendix : Municipal Charters

Chapter 801 : Green Mountain Transit Authority

• § 7. Annual budget and assessments

  (a) On or before February 15 in each year, the Board of Commissioners shall prepare a budget for the Authority for the next fiscal year, which shall include an estimate of the revenue of the Authority from fares and other sources, except membership assessments, and the expenses for the next fiscal year, including debt service, and at such time the Board of Commissioners shall call a meeting of the residents of its members for the purpose of presenting the proposed budget and inviting discussion thereon. The meeting shall be held at a place within the County and shall be warned by a notice published in a newspaper of general circulation in the County at least 15 days prior to the meeting. The notice shall contain a copy of the proposed budget, and members of the legislative body of each member municipality shall be notified of the meeting by certified mail. The proposed budget may include, in addition to revenues from fares and other sources, anticipated voluntary local match contributions, grants, donations, and other nonassessment revenues that may be offered by a member municipality or another public or private source.

  (b) Annually, following the meeting provided in subsection (a) of this section, the Board of Commissioners shall review the proposed budget of the Authority in light of any discussion thereon at the meeting and shall then adopt the budget with or without changes.

  (c) The Treasurer of the Authority, following adoption of the budget, shall apportion the sums required to be contributed by each member municipality according to the formula for apportionment. The formula for apportionment may be changed by the Board of Commissioners with the concurrence of the legislative bodies of at least three-quarters of the member municipalities.

  (d) The Treasurer of the Authority shall immediately notify the treasurer of each member municipality and the chair of the legislative body in each member municipality of the amount of such assessment, and the member municipality shall add such assessment to its own budget and shall assess such tax as is necessary to raise the amount of the assessment. The amount of the assessment in each member municipality shall be paid to the Treasurer of the Authority on or before July 15 in each year.

  (e) In the event that the budget of the Authority in any year becomes insufficient to support the operations of the Authority, the Board of Commissioners may assess the member municipalities for additional sums, apportioned in the manner provided in this section, but such additional assessment shall require the approval of all the legislative bodies in the member municipalities.

  (f)(1) The Authority shall be permitted to seek and accept voluntary local match contributions.

  (2) Notwithstanding the formula for apportionment, the Authority may accept voluntary local match contributions from a member municipality or another public or private source for the purposes of:

  (A) meeting federal, State, or other grant matching requirements; and

  (B) supporting Authority programs, capital projects, and operations.

  (3) A voluntary local match contribution accepted pursuant to this subsection shall be in addition to any assessment required pursuant to this section and shall not reduce, offset, or otherwise modify the assessment apportioned to any member municipality pursuant to the formula for apportionment unless the formula is amended in accordance with the provisions of this section. (Added 1973, No. 122, § 7, eff. Feb. 2, 1973; amended 2009, No. 71 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. July 1, 2011; 2025, No. 168 (Adj. Sess.), § 20, eff. July 1, 2026.)