City of Montpelier, Vermont

Montpelier 2007 / Annual Report / .
attend a ceremony acknowledging this commitment to peace.
It was a great honor to represent the people of Montpelier in
Montpellier, France in October of 2006. One of the lessons I
learned was the value of these personal exchanges.
People in Montpelier are hungry. Almost 10% of the households
in Vermont don’t always know where money for food
is going to come from. The number of Vermont households
“where adults frequently go without food and children’s
portions are reduced” has doubled since 2000—the largest
increase in hunger in the country. 160 elders in Washington
County go without food, or don’t have money for food, one or
more times a month. The cost of hunger is huge. Kids who
are hungry can’t learn. People who are hungry are 30% more
likely to be hospitalized. Our institutions are trying to meet this
need—our churches have soup kitchens 5 days a week, we have
food shelves which distribute food, our schools have free and
reduced cost lunches. But we need to do more, no child should
be hungry in Montpelier.
Over a year ago as much as 4000 tons of rock fell on Elm
Street, much of it landing just a few feet from the homes of
many people. Within hours residents in the area were evacuated
and moved to safety and warmth, downed electric lines
de-energized, traffic re-routed and planning for moving forward
was begun. It was a very impressive mobilization of City
personnel and resources, private companies and volunteers.
Determination to serve this community, professionalism and
grace under pressure were the hallmarks of the evening and the
weeks that followed. The six months of clean-up showed this
community at its best—state employees with expertise in state
and federal programs provided guidance in quickly getting to
the resources we needed, our legislative delegation was immediately
working to help us, our city employees worked tirelessly
to make sure people were safe and to get the community back
to normal. All of us were concerned for the safety and health
of our neighbors and our community.
We have a great team of City employees, lead by an outstanding
City Manager. These folks miss a lot of concerts, sports
games and dinners because of their commitment to this city. It
is a pleasure for me to work with them.
Our City Council is dedicated. Each Council member carries
a portfolio of work, in addition preparation for and participation
in to the bi-weekly Council meetings. They are members of the
Central Vermont Solid Waste District, Green Mountain Transit
Board, the Housing Task Force, the Kellogg Hubbard Library
to mention just a few of the boards. In addition, they attend
meetings of the City’s standing boards and commissions such
as Planning and Development Review, neighborhood groups,
and ad hoc committees. It has been a pleasure working with this
hard working, challenging, thoughtful group which maintains a
focus on the good of the community.
My husband’s loving support is the reason I can do what I
do. Thank you Slink!
I also thank the people of Montpelier for the privilege and
honor of working for the community.
Message from the City
Manager:
It’s a great honor to present my
12th budget and annual report
to this special community we
all call home. The year began with
the major Elm Street rock slide,
included replacing a major bridge in
the center of downtown and ended
with concern over contamination on
a parking lot.
After an intense effort over
the last few years, the Planning
Commission and City Council completed
their review, deliberation and
adoption of an overhauled zoning
ordinance. This represented accomplishment of a major goal
for the city.
2006 saw some other major changes in City Government as
well. After having an extremely stable team of department heads
for twelve years or more, we welcomed a new Finance Director,
Public Works Director, Fire Chief and Planning & Development
Director. This large change of leadership brought new energy,
ideas and enthusiasm to City Hall but also required a lot of time
and effort to recruit, select and hire these people as well as getting
them all up to speed on the many issues facing them.
Another major change underway right now is the property
tax reappraisal. Even though a reappraisal was done only three
years ago, escalating property sale prices have reduced our
“Common Level of Apraisal” (CLA) to 70.94%. This means
that when equalized with other communities in the state, our
tax values are approximately 71% of where they should be. In
order to maintain tax equity, the city is required to keep our
taxable valuation or “Grand List” at as close to 100% as possible.
All projected tax rates in this report are based on the current
grand list and are provided for comparison purposes only.
Actual tax rates will be based on the reappraised Grand List and
will be much lower than those printed in this report.
Goals and Priorities
City Manager
Bill Fraser
On May 10, 2006, the City Council, after conducting a March
29th workshop meeting, adopted of a series of priorities for the
year. This statement strongly influenced decisions, staff work,
policy recommendations and budget proposals throughout the
past year. Most of these items were completed, considered or
moved forward in some way during the year. The 2006-2007
priorities were:
Goal: Maintain a Sustainable Budget which continues top
quality municipal services while remaining fiscally prudent.
Mary S. Hooper, Mayor
a)
b)
Develop a common understanding of “Sustainable
budget”.
Create a longer term budget model.