Pico Village Water Corp. fined $37K

Rutland Herald

By Patrick McArdle

Staff Writer | August 30,2016

KILLINGTON — The administrators of a local public water system that supplies drinking water to about 90 people have agreed to pay a $37,000 fine, the second time in seven years the company has faced a five-figure penalty.

On Monday, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell’s office said the Pico Village Water Corp., which operates in Killington, had agreed to the penalty to resolve claims that the corporation had violated management and operational requirements.

In a statement, Sorrell called the case a “strong example of the importance of the reporting and monitoring requirements contained in environmental permits.”

“Vermont has a robust regulatory program to protect our public drinking water supplies, and we will hold water supply operators accountable to the highest levels of compliance,” Sorrell said.

The fine is much lower than it could have been. Under state law, Pico Village could have been fined up to $85,000 for each of the violations and up to $42,500 for each day until the violation was addressed.

As part of a consent order, Pico Village admitted to nine violations of its public water supply permit including a failure to contract with a certified water system operator and a failure to submit other documentation and reports, including a plan to sample for lead and copper.

The Vermont attorney general’s office said all the compliance issues have been resolved except the submission of the plan to test for lead and copper. Pico Village has 30 days to submit the plan.

The fine announced Monday follows a $12,000 fine levied by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources in September 2009.

Assistant Vermont Attorney General Justin E. Kolber said the action that resulted in the $37,000 fine was the first time his office had taken action against a public water system.

However, he said they were asked to take action because Pico Village was not in compliance with the agreement reached with ANR in 2009.

Kolber said the $12,000 fine had been paid but other conditions had not been met. For instance, Pico Village had been ordered to identify needed system upgrades and improvements and submit a plan to address those needs by March 2014. The water company had also failed to submit monthly operating reports between February 2013 and June 2015.

The fine also resolves the state’s claim that Pico Village violated Vermont rules for water supplies by not filing documentation quickly that showed action had been taken to address an elevated E. coli level in 2012 and a chlorine leak in 2013.

Kolber said the state found no evidence that those incidents had actually resulted in unsafe water being used by the system’s customers but that the company had failed to provide the proper documentation showing its response.

According to Kolber, there is no indication that there are any health hazards present in the Pico Village system.

Kolber said the investigation which ended with the fine began in the summer of 2015.

The 2009 complaint by ANR found 16 violations including connecting to a private unregulated water well and failure to properly disinfect the water.

Pico Village operates the Upper Well and Schuyler Well on Alpine Drive along west Pico Peak. It is not affiliated with the Pico Ski Area or Killington/Pico Ski Resort Partners.

Attorney David Carpenter, of the Rutland law firm Facey Goss and McPhee, P.C., who represented the water company, declined to comment on Monday. Officials from the water company could not be reached Monday.

patrick.mcardle @rutlandherald.com

Two car crash in Killington sends two to hospital

Rutland Herald

August 28,2016

A two-vehicle crash on Route 4 in Killington in the early morning hours Saturday sent a Hartland man and his passenger to the hospital and destroyed his car, according to Vermont State Police.

An eastbound Honda CRV driven by Amin James, 36, crossed the center line into the westbound lane, just before 3 a.m., police said, hitting a Volvo station wagon driven by John Warner, 62, of Tuftonboro, NH.

Neither James and his passenger, 47-year-old Paul A. Pasley of Woodstock, were wearing seatbelts, police said, and both sustained severe injuries in the crash. They were both taken to Rutland Regional Medical Center for treatment. Warner, who was wearing a seatbelt, had minor injuries, police said, and his car was a total loss.

Vermont State Police, Killington Police, the Killington Fire Department and the Regional Ambulance Service responded to the scene, and East Creek Motors and Executive Towing towed the vehicles away. Police said the investigation into the crash is ongoing, and anyone with information about this crash is asked to contact Trooper Kaitlyn Armstrong at 802-773-9101.

Killington Tax Sales (Political Cartoon)

Mountain Times

August 25, 2016

Killington Select Board focuses on finances

Mountain Times

August 24, 2016

KILLINGTON— On Tuesday, Aug. 16, at their regular Killington Select Board meeting, the board discussed the towns financial status with regards to FEMA reimbursements, outstanding debts, loan repayment plan and delinquent tax collection. Here is a summary of the discussion, according to the meeting minutes:
FEMA: Ravine Road appeal status
Town Manager Debby Schwartz reported that on June 4, the town submitted an appeal back to the state on FEMA’s Ravine Road determination. On Aug. 2, the state submitted their response to the town’s appeal to FEMA. In their submission, the state commented that the appeal was “…a productive exercise and a project well worth appealing.” The town’s appeal includes a request to be reimbursed on the entire cost of the bridge. There are also almost $37,000 in errors and omissions which have been identified for additional reimbursement.
Schwartz stated that if the town were to receive all of the additional monies requested for this project, it would be almost another $232,000. She added that the town hasn’t received any determination from FEMA on the Stage Road project which is almost $309,100, noting that the outstanding requested reimbursements total is slightly over $540,000.
Outstanding debt review
Chairwoman Patty McGrath stated that several years ago, the town had budgeted almost $600,000 in revenues to be received from FEMA reimbursement due to Tropical Storm Irene, which took three full-year cycles to receive. She noted that the outstanding money is actually on top of that; that the town has not put that into the budget as revenue and therefore, that the town is not depending on that as part of their budget cycle at this point. McGrath added that the town is hopeful that it can get the money to help whittle down the cash shortfall.
McGrath also stated that she, Schwartz, Treasurer Lucrecia Wonsor and Assistant Treasurer Mona Hickory  had a meeting with Peoples Bank to review the town’s finances. One of the questions that came up was finally settling out anything that the town owes on Irene. McGrath stated that the numbers for her calculation came from the town’s reports from 2011-2014 and then the final 2015–2016.
According to McGrath, the total expenses incurred due to Irene were approximately $3.2 million, and that FEMA’s reimbursements to date were $2,428,000 which leaves the town with a shortfall of approximately $776,000.
McGrath said she has also been tracking the town’s net cash value since 2011, adding that in 2013, the town realized that there was a $996,000 cash shortfall between what the town had in the bank and what the town owed, and that according to the numbers, the town actually has been whittling down that shortfall down.
$900K loan due Sept. 1
Schwartz reported that the town’s $900,000 operating note is due Sept. 1. The town has received in over $477,000 in one day’s receipts for the first installment of tax payments, she reported, so she reached out to the bank to ask if there’s any prepayment penalty. She said she will work with Lucretia to see if the town can pay off the note sooner and reduce the interest expense.
Delinquent tax collection
Schwartz reported that as of the meeting, Aug. 16, delinquent taxes for 2015, including interest and penalty, is $391,394, which represents a decrease. Schwartz also stated that she had not yet sent out the Delinquent Tax notice statements because she was working with NEMRC on the correct verbiage that has been recommended by counsel. She added that she has had an opportunity this week to meet with about a half dozen people to clarify their taxes and that she felt the exchanges have been positive.

- See more at: http://mountaintimes.info/killington-select-board-focuses/#sthash.iHDLtOOv.dpuf

Board Not Worried About Chief’s Lack of Certification

Vermont Standard

August 18, 2016 

By Curt Peterson

Standard Correspondent

Although Killington Police Chief Whit Montgomery was awarded his position by the select board in 2013 on the condition that he would complete the Level III Vermont Police Academy training, the selectmen and town manager say they participated in the decision to skip the course this year.

“We looked into the matter very thoroughly,” selectman Chris Bianchi said. “Whit has taken all of the courses in that training program, at the same school, during his career.”

He said the board is looking into having Montgomery certified at Level III on that basis. Both Bianchi and select board chair Patty McGrath are confident they will be able to convince the Police Academy to recognize Montgomery’s piecemeal participation in the course as evidence he has earned certification.

But the Level III certification isn’t the only complication facing Killington.

Until last month, the police department included Chief Montgomery, a part-time officer named Jay Riehl, and Brent Howard, who was a fulltime officer. Howard left under unexplained circumstances in July, leaving the town’s law enforcement down to Montgomery and Riehl.

“Not enrolling Chief Montgomery in the program at this time was the best thing for the town,” McGrath said. “Otherwise our chief would be gone for four months and we’d be down to one part-time officer.”

Riehl has the Level III certification, which, if he were the case manager in a criminal investigation, would allow Montgomery to participate in the process.

In 2015 Montgomery left the four-month residential training session halfway through the course, explaining that he had come down with the flu. Although some residents called for his resignation for lack of credentials, the select board said the training and authority he had at the time was adequate for the demands made on him in this resort town of 800 fulltime residents. His Level II training qualifies him to investigate minor criminal action, such as breaking local and traffic laws, drug possession, domestic disputes and disturbing the peace.

Last year Montgomery told the Vermont Standard he was qualified to handle situations that he actually faces, and would call in the state police for more serious investigations such as homicide or drug distribution anyway, as they have the manpower, training and labs necessary to deal with the more egregious felonies. He indicated that he intended to obtain the certification when he had the next opportunity.

The course is given twice a year, starting in February and again in August, but Montgomery has not enrolled in either session.

He is one of very few Vermont chiefs of police who have not achieved the Level III certification, according to an academy spokesperson.

In other business, all three selectmen agreed to form a golf foursome with one of Bianchi’s sons to par- ticipate in the Vermont League of Cities and Towns Golf Tournament on Aug. 24 at the Green Mountain International Golf Course. Schwartz agreed to drive one of their carts, as she has yet to take up the game.

Whimsically, Jim Hoff, the only member of the public present at the meeting, suggested the board should officially “warn” a meeting of the board for the golf event, as they would all be together. The public has to know when that occurs, he noted, so they can attend if they want to. Otherwise it’s a “secret meeting.”

“You wouldn’t want that to come back and bite you some day,” Hoff said.

The Board took his suggestion seriously and voted to warn the Board would be meeting at the golf outing.

“I hope the course has enough carts for members of the public who might show up,” Bianchi said.

Killington pursues FEMA reimbursement

Rutland Herald

By Lola Duffort

Staff Writer | August 19,2016

KILLINGTON — Five years after Irene, the town is still wrangling with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for reimbursements.

Killington has outstanding requests to the federal agency for about $540,000 between two projects: a new bridge it built on Ravine Road, and a box culvert on Stage Road.

The town spent about $425,000 rebuilding the Ravine Road bridge, said Town Manager Deborah Schwartz, and was approved by the federal agency for about $193,000 in reimbursements (after local matching, the town actually received $148,000). The town has filed an appeal with FEMA in hopes of recouping up to an additional $231,000 on that project.

As for Stage Road, the town had received “progress payments” from FEMA — cash provided to towns to help rebuild in the immediate aftermath — but no determination from the federal agency about what its final reimbursement will total. The town has asked for $309,000, Schwartz said.

Select Board Chairwoman Patty McGrath told the public at a Select Board meeting Tuesday that the town had already received from FEMA an amount equal to what it had budgeted. But the extra cash, she said, could help the town close the budget shortfall it has been carrying forward since it spent more than $3 million rebuilding after the 2011 storm.

“Over the years, we have been working diligently to whittle down that budget shortfall,” she said.

The town has solicited help from the office of U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, Schwartz added, and representatives from Leahy’s office have offered to reach out to the rest of the Vermont congressional delegation.

lola.duffort @rutlandherald.com

Killington Ski Area seeking 300 volunteers to help with World Cup Race

MassLive.com

American Mikaela Shiffrin races to victory in a FIS World Cup slalom final in St. Moritz, Switzerland last winter. ( (Gian Ehrenzeller / Kestone via AP))

By Jeanette DeForge | jdeforge@repub.com 
Follow on Twitter
on August 12, 2016 at 7:17 AM, updated August 12, 2016 at 7:18 AM

KILLINGTON, VT – Ski area officials are seeking up to 300 volunteers to assist with the operations at the World Cup race that is coming to the mountain Nov. 26 and 27.

Killington will host the 2016 Audi FIS Ski World Cup Race over Thanksgiving weekend. Two competitions, the women's giant slalom and slalom races, will be held on the Superstar trail at the mountain.

Volunteers are needed from Nov. 19 through 30. They will serve as greeters, to assist with registration, help at media headquarters and to do course crew work. Applications are being accepted through online submissions at www.killington.com.

Tickets, which ranged in price from $20 to grandstand seats to $350 VIP vouchers, were put up for sale on July 5 and sold out by the next day. 

There will be a free viewing area that will accommodate 7,500 spectators each day. Killington will also provide free parking and shuttle buses for spectators during the weekend.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities, please visit the World Cup volunteer page at Killington.com. For additional information about Killington Resort and the 2016 Audi FIS Ski World Cup, please visit www.killington.com/worldcup.

This is the first time a World Cup race has been held in New England since 1991 when the event came to Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. The last time the International Ski Federation held a World Cup competition in Vermont was in 1978 when the men's and women's slalom and giant slalom races were held at Stratton Mountain.

Killington was selected to host the race, in part because of its large snowmaking system which can pump out enough snow to cover the trails needed for the competition in a short period of time.

New tax sale policy in Killington upsets some

Rutland Herald

By Lola Duffort

STAFF WRITER | August 12,2016

KILLINGTON — A new policy shortening the delinquency period for property taxes in town has upset some residents.

“I’ve always paid my taxes. I’m hoping I can pay my taxes,” George Brant, a Killington homeowner and landlord, told the Select Board last week. “But we’ve had a really bad year. Everyone’s down 20, 30, 40 percent up here. Now if we have two, three, more years of that, you’re going to have some delinquent taxes in this town.”

A policy adopted by the Select Board last month eliminates a minimum $500 delinquency amount and shortens the delinquency period from one year to 30 days after the final tax installment is due. After those 30 days are up, the tax collector — in Killington, that’s the town manager — can send a notice to a property owner by certified mail warning them that tax sale procedures could start 30 days after mailing.

The policy also allows delinquent taxpayers to enter into a payment plan with the tax collector to forestall tax sale.

And getting property owners having a tough time paying their taxes on a payment plan is exactly what the town wants, Select Board chairwoman Patty McGrath told Grant.

“I see why you’re thinking it sounds heartless … But the point really isn’t to put things into tax sale. Because that’s not what we want to do,” McGrath said. “Without the tax sale, there’s nothing forcing people to say, hey, I need to pay this, I need to approach the town, I need to make a plan. What we’re looking for is the plan.”

Selectman Chris Bianchi agreed, and said the new policy was more in-line with municipal practice across the state.

“We’re tightening up closer to what every other town in the state of Vermont is doing,” he said.

Jim Haff, a former selectman, jumped into the conversation from the audience. He told the Board his wife had once been hospitalized for over two months — a period of time in which he certainly wasn’t checking his mail.

But ultimately, having gotten on a payment plan himself, Haff said he understood why the town wanted to tighten the timeline.

“As a person who went through it and is going through it, I don’t have a problem with it,” he said. “What I don’t like seeing, in public comments or in the paper, is saying that if everyone paid their taxes on time, we wouldn’t have to borrow the full $900,000 … because we budgeted whatever’s delinquent in our budget.”

The town is currently owed $395,811 in delinquent taxes, Schwartz said Wednesday.

“The idea is to accommodate folks as best I can while ensuring the town receives the receipts it needs,” she said. “I’m looking to serve everybody and the interests of the town — and they go hand-in-hand.”

In a phone interview this week, Grant said he hadn’t changed his mind. And the dozens of people he’d discussed the issue with also agreed, he said.

“If you’re not getting those notices for a couple months … that’s cold. I’m sorry. I just think it’s harsh,” he said.

lola.duffort

A Killington riddle

Mountain Times

August 10, 2016

Dear Editor,
This riddle is about our town finances.
Article  3 from the March 2015 Town Meeting stated: “Shall the voters approve total general fund expenditures for the 18-month budget beginning January 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016 of $6,282,554 of which $243,550 shall be applied from the 2014 general fund balance, $3,732,950 shall be raised by property taxes, $2,082,277 in estimated non-property tax revenues, and $223,778 in estimated FEMA/Flood reimbursement?”
According to the Select Board Meeting Aug. 2, 2016, item no. 7, “June 2016 financial reports and year-end closeout,” the board stated our expenses were $250,000 less than budgeted and our revenue was $45,000 more than budgeted.
So if we received in more than we budgeted and spent less than we budgeted, then why did we need to borrow $900,000 at the end of June? Could someone please answer this riddle.
a. We’re actually in debt
b. It’s  a cash flow problem
c. The select board is confused
d. All of the above
Jim Haff, Killington

Tempest in Killington’s teapot / Killington police chief still not level III trained

Mountain Times

August 10, 2016

Dear Editor,

In response to the Rutland Herald’s article of Aug. 4, 2016, “Killington police chief still not level III trained”[article below]: this is a “tempest in a teapot". I, for one, have advocated and lobbied for an increased public safety budget in Killington to increase the police presence in town due to the frequent break-ins in this community. Presence means officers out there patrolling and being visible so as to deter would-be lawbreakers. Given this context, taking Montgomery off the streets for four months, a third of a year, is ludicrous.

As I understand it, Montgomery enrolled and was well into the certification training when he became ill and had to suspend the balance of the training. He requested to re-enroll in the training where he left off and was denied, being told he would have to start at the beginning. I don’t recall how far he was into the training, but from what I do recall it was well beyond the halfway point.

I don’t know how the level three training works so don’t understand why it can’t be picked where he left off. A large part of this course is basic training boot camp—physical training—not investigating crime which seems to be the big deal with the level three certification.

I don’t think taking Montgomery off the streets for another four months while paying him that $46,837 salary and paying for another training makes any sense practically, logistically or financially for the town.

If he has the equivalent training and has limited, if any, involvement in the more serious crimes which require level three training, what is the point of demanding he go through the certification process. In fact, I’d rather other agencies with the resources spend their time investigating these “level three” crimes and have Montgomery making his presence felt on the streets. In fact that is exactly why I lobbied for an increased police budget in the first place!

Vito Rasenas, Killington

Killington police chief still not level III trained
Rutland Herald

By Lola Duffort

STAFF WRITER | August 04,2016

KILLINGTON — The Vermont Police Academy began level III training this week, but the town’s police chief once again won’t be in class.

Robert “Whit” Montgomery was named the Killington first police chief in 2013 on the condition that he eventually receive level III training, or full-time certification, from the Vermont Police Academy.

But that requirement might not still apply, according to town officials.

“Separate from your inquiry, we have researched his training, and his training exceeds, far and away, the minimum standards and we are researching avenues for that to be formally acknowledged,” Town Manager Deborah Schwartz said last week.

Select Board Chairwoman Patty McGrath said Wednesday the town was now looking into getting Montgomery a level III certification through the Police Academy’s waiver process, which lets police recruits skip the four-month residential training. McGrath said she wasn’t sure it would apply to Montgomery’s case, but online research appeared to indicate it would.

“That looks to be the best course of action to upgrade everything and still serve the town in the best way possible, and be fair to Whit considering all the certifications that he already has,” she said.

McGrath couldn’t say whether or not the town would require Montgomery to go through training if the waiver didn’t work out.

“I can’t answer a question about a bridge we haven’t gotten to,” she said.

But town officials will soon have to cross that bridge. That waiver process almost certainly doesn’t apply in Montgomery’s case, according to Police Academy Director of Training Cindy Taylor-Patch.

“It’s for folks that were equivalently trained in another state,” she said. A graduate of Sherburne Elementary and Woodstock Union High, Montgomery has worked in Vermont his entire career.

A level II officer, Montgomery can only investigate certain, typically more minor crimes — like municipal ordinance violations, drug possession (but not sale), domestic assault and disorderly conduct. Montgomery’s level of training previously restricted him to working a maximum 32 hours a week on policing, but legislation that went into effect last year lifted the time restriction tied to level II certification and implemented restrictions on enforcement authority.

The 20-year law enforcement veteran can legally intervene in an emergency situation in which a crime outside his scope of practice is taking place, but must then call another law enforcement agency or appropriately certified officer to take over the case.

Montgomery was a key figure in the push to create a police department in the town, which previously worked under a constable system. The ski town only has a year-round population of about 800, but can see up to 20,000 people on a busy weekend.

He would not respond to questions about why he had not re-taken training or whether he planned to do so in the future, saying only that it was not his decision to make.

“I report to Debbie and will do what the town manager requires of me to do,” he wrote in an email.

Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council Executive Director Richard Gauthier said Friday Montgomery had submitted an application to the council that Thursday for level II-Enhanced certification, which “was designed to recognize those officers who have been doing the job full time for a lot of years.”

Level II-E certification would expand Montgomery’s scope of practice to such crimes as burglary, robbery, selling drugs and aggravated assault. The most serious offences, such as sexual assault and homicide, would remain outside his purview.

Montgomery enrolled in level III training last year at the academy but dropped out, he said, after getting sick with the flu. He told the Vermont Standard in March 2015 that he intended to go back, but that his lack of training wouldn’t impede his role as police chief.

“The things I’m not authorized to do without the certification are things we don’t do anyway, like homicides. Anything like that we automatically call in the (Vermont) State Police because they have the resources to handle it, the labs, the investigators, the manpower. I’ll just be doing what I’ve been doing for 16 years, and when I get the certificate, I’ll be doing pretty much the same thing,” he said at the time.

Montgomery’s salary this year is $46,837, according to the 2015 Town Report.

The Killington Police Department can still technically investigate cases outside Montgomery’s scope of practice, so long as a level-III trained officer is in charge of the case. Jay Riehl, who works part-time for the department, has that training.

So does Donald Brent Howard, who was the town’s only other full-time officer — until late July.

Town officials announced Howard’s hiring in November 2015, but he was no longer with the department as of late last month, according the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council, which receives notifications of where officers are hired. Town officials declined to say why Howard had left, saying it was a personnel matter.

Schwartz could not say whether or not the town would look for a replacement.

Reached at home last week, Howard declined to comment as well.

Police chiefs who are not level III trained are rare but not unheard of, Taylor-Patch said.

“Fairlee, Mount Tabor and Royalton have created police departments and essentially refer to their constable as chief. Same thing with Montgomery in Killington,” she said in an email.

Level III training is offered twice a year, beginning in February and August. It lasts four months, with weekends off. The state will cover the cost of the training itself, but the town is responsible for paying a recruit’s salary during that time period.

Gauthier called level III training the “gold standard.” But he said he understood why some towns didn’t think they could afford the time commitment.

“If the town of Killington takes a look at what a level II or level II-E can do, and decides that’s all they want their police department doing anyway, then that’s their decision as a community,” he said.

lola.duffort @rutlandherald.com

Vermont’s spending needs overhaul

Mountain Times

8/6/16

Dear Editor,

Bruce Lisman knows how Vermont works and it begins with more taxes. Even the carbon tax idea will put more home heating oil customers into the mix. It is a terrible idea. Now we learn that the Vermont General Fund will drop another $28 million this year. They even want to take more money out of the Education Fund for pre-school daycare. Which brings me to what I want to say.

In spite of losing 20,000 students in our education system over the past 10-12 years, the funding for our schools has increased more than $600 million to $1.4 billion. Along with students disappearing, one has to assume that they did not die. Their parents just left the state for lack of income which leads to less tax revenue.

The Education Fund needs an overhaul as spending just does not stop and property taxes keep on rising. Vermont cannot continue to raise taxes on every thing that moves. We read that in some school districts the cost per student is reaching to $15,000 to $17,000. A lot of this comes from increasing costs to teach our young people. It never stops.

Bruce Lisman has been behind The Campaign for Vermont for years. He was Chairman of the UVM school board in 2000 and turned it around. The CFV has campaigned against the costs in the Education Fund and it has also fought to get a handle on property taxes not to mention municipal tax increases. It seems that the Vermont legislature did not hear Vermonters when they asked for changes in the Education Funding laws in 2015. Everyone who works in government gets a raise every year while ordinary Vermonters have no hope of such increases.

It is important for people in Vermont to realize that having insiders, those who have been in government for years, are not a good template for change. Lisman knows how to change this and with the help of Tom Pelham and others he will cut the spending faster than other insiders. Also, the state pension funds are so far underwater to the tune of $2 billion. Where are Vermonters going to get the money to pay the promises that government officials gave to all government workers? Vermont is in a big, bad: MESS

Edwin J. Fowler, Killington, Vt

- See more at: http://mountaintimes.info/vermonts-spending-problem-needs-overhaul/#sthash.9y1XKdUu.dpuf

New Tax Delinquency Policy Questioned

Vermont Standard

8/4/16

By Curt Peterson

Standard Correspondent

Killington — If new Town Manager Debby Schwartz thought her efforts to clean up the town’s onerous delinquent property tax situation were going to earn her universal appreciation, she found out differently at Tuesday evening’s select board meeting.

At the July 19 meeting the board had voted unanimously to adopt a new delinquent tax policy – that properties are now eligible for tax sale proceedings if any portion of levies remain unpaid 30 days after the 10-day grace period following the final installment for that year. This was Schwartz’s proposal, inspired by $500,000 in delinquent property taxes, some of which have been due for over a year.

At that meeting Schwartz had announced execution of a $900,000 cashflow loan from People’s Bank to cover the town’s expenses from July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, until the town starts to receive property tax payments during the month of August. She had pointed out that part of the reason the town needs the loan is because taxes on which the previous year’s budget was based remained unpaid.

“A year is just an unreasonable period of time to let delinquent taxes remain uncollected. We need that money for the budget, and all the other taxpayers have to make it up,” she said.

Schwartz was careful to point out that under the new rule, tax sale proceedings “may,” rather than “shall” be instituted when delinquency reaches the prescribed tardiness, which leaves some flexibility for special circumstances, including negotiating a workable payment plan with property owners that would get them up to date in a reasonable period of time.

If it sounded reasonable on July 19, it certainly didn’t sound reasonable to some residents on Aug. 2.

George Brant and his wife Nicole Levesque, owner of Vermont Gift and Garden Shop in Killington, challenged the board’s sensitivity to hardships resulting from a “terrible winter season” by threatening tax sales.

“It’s cold,” Brant said. “We just had a bad season. We could have a couple more. Then what? People just lose everything because they can’t pay their property taxes on time?”

Added Levesque: “Several people are already out of business in the area because of the taxes.”

Selectman Chris Bianchi pointed out that taxpayers can come to the town manager, who is also the tax collector, to work out a payment plan if they need one.

“The longer people wait to pay, and the longer we wait for them to do it, the harder it is for them to catch up,” he said.

Brant said he felt the payment plan should be spelled out up front, that leaving the negotiations up to an individual might lead to favoritism for one taxpayer and draconian measures for another.

Schwartz repeated that leaving the payment plan up to negotiations allows the tax collector to take individual situations into account, rather than creating a power struggle between town and taxpayer.

Bianchi said that if a taxpayer is unhappy with treatment by the tax collector, he or she can apply to the Board of Civil Authority — they adjudicate grievances about issues such as delinquent taxes that residents might have against the town. Bianchi also pointed out that the town had a surplus fund at one time that they could use as a cushion, but extraordinary expenses from 2011’s Tropical Storm Irene wiped out much of that money.

Jim Hoff joined the fray, saying his wife became very ill and had to be hospitalized in Burlington for 62 days.

“I wasn’t reading my email, I wasn’t going to the post office, I wasn’t talking on the phone,” he said. “What if my tax bill came and I didn’t notice it, and under this new plan my property came up for tax sale? I don’t think that’s right.”

He said during his wife’s illness he got behind on the taxes for five properties.

“Once she was well again I met with Seth (Webb), the town manager, and worked out a plan to get caught up. Now I am behind on only 1 1/2 properties,” Hoff said. “Under this new arrangement I’ve only got thirty days before my house gets sold.”

Schwartz went through the process step-by-step. “First of all,” she said, “right now you are billed your taxes in four installments. They are not technically delinquent until the ten-day grace period runs out following the last of the four installments. Then the delinquency stands for 30 more days before a tax sale is even considered. So you have almost a year to arrange an alternative plan and avoid the sale.”

Hoff said he remembered former Town Manager Webb’s efforts to collect delinquent taxes, which were very successful.

Levesque and Vito Rasenas asked if delinquent taxes didn’t actually add to the town’s revenue.

“Aren’t those delinquent taxes earning interest and penalties until they are paid,” Rasenas asked.

Select board chair Patty McGrath pointed out that the interest and penalties only become revenue when they are paid, along with the taxes. Until then, she said, they are just anticipated revenue.

“We do receive delinquent taxes from previous years every current year,” she said. “But it’s unpredictable and we can’t budget based on that.”

Schwartz presented the Board with three tax items under “Listers’ Errors and Omissions.” One of the cases involves a gentleman named Andy Merman who filed his Homestead Exemption Declaration form in June, after the prescribed deadline of April 15. The town has assessed a penalty equal to 8 percent of the education portion of his property tax bill. He feels the penalty is excessive for failure to file a form, and asked the Board to consider lowering the fine to a more reasonable level.

Remarks from the audience and among the Select Board members rallied between lowering the penalty to 3 percent, to worrying about fairness to any other late filers who might have paid the higher penalty already.

Chris Bianchi looked up the rules regarding the penalties on the Vermont Department of Taxes website, which clearly state that, in municipalities where the non-resident tax rate is lower than the resident tax rate, (as is the case in Killington) the town “shall” charge a delinquent Homestead Exemption filer the 8 percent penalty.

“When a legal document says ‘shall’ do it,” Bianchi said, “that means you have to do it.”

McGrath and Schwartz had the actual statute in front of them, which agreed with the website.

Comment: From the State of Vermont website:

"Homestead Declarations filed after April 18, 2016, are classified as homesteads but may be assessed the following penalty by the town:

• Up to 3% if the nonresidential rate is higher than the homestead education property tax rate.
  
• Up to 8% if the nonresidential rate is lower than the homestead education property tax rate. "
  
  
  "may" and "up to" in the above quote from the website to me indicate a wide latitude is allowed in assessing penalties. I even connotes no penalty at all can be considered.
  
  Vito