A sign encourages March voting in Brattleboro. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger In a sign that public concerns about affordability aren’t limited to groceries and household goods, Vermont’s most-populated cities and towns are set to ask voters this March for nearly $44 million in capital p rojects — an 84% drop from last year’s $275 million wish list of proposals. Only nine of the state’s 29 municipalities with at least 5,000 people are seeking bond requests for infrastructure improvements of $1 million or more, according to a VTDigger survey of Town Meeting ballots. As in past years, a majority of the proposals would pay for water and sewer upgrades, with Montpelier considering $8 million for its pump station and pipes; Hartford weighing $7.8 million for its mains; Waterbury casting ballots on $4.3 million to create more flood-reduction capacity; St. Albans City asking for $1.6 million to refurbish a storage tank; and Middlebury seeking $1.5 million to replace distribution lines. READ MORE In the biggest single general bond proposal, Williston will vote on a $13.9 million plan to roughly double the size of its Dorothy Alling Memorial Library. “While the library serves the 13th largest population in the state, it ranks 24th in the state for square footage,” library leaders have written in a plan for the facility, which boasts Vermont’s fifth highest circulation. Rounding out the other bond requests: — South Burlington will consider a $2.3 million addition to its main fire station. — Winooski will weigh $2 million for upgrades to its City Hall and police department, parking garage elevator and sidewalks. — Shelburne will cast ballots on $1.3 million to replace its maintenance building and truck, repave streets and repair sidewalks and its rescue station. — And Hartford will ask for $1.13 million to improve downtown streets and sidewalks in its village of White River Junction. Williston is set to vote on a $13.9 million plan to roughly double the size of its Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, as pictured in this town-provided drawing. Other local spending, leaders The state’s biggest municipalities also will vote on annual budgets to fund local governments. In Vermont’s largest city of Burlington, that includes a proposal to increase its police and fire tax by 5 cents for every $100 of assessed value of local property to add two firefighters and purchase six new vehicles. Several communities are proposing new or expanded local option taxes to boost municipal coffers by piggybacking off state business taxes — joining a list that now includes more than 30 cities and towns. Milton, Morristown and Swanton will seek a 1% local tax on sales, rooms, meals and alcoholic beverages, while Stowe wants to increase its figure for the same items to 2%. Of the eight Vermont municipalities with mayors, five will hold elections for the office this year. In Rutland City, the recent surprise resignation of Mayor Mike Doenges halfway through his two-year term has sparked a write-in election. Montpelier will see financial advisor Marc Gwinn run unopposed for a two-year term to replace the outgoing Mayor Jack McCullough, while St. Albans City will see teacher Trudy Cioffi run unopposed for a two-year term to replace the outgoing Mayor Tim Smith. And in Winooski, interim Mayor Thomas Renner is seeking the one-year unexpired term of Kristine Lott, who stepped down upon expecting her first child. (Barre City Mayor Thom Lauzon’s two-year term extends until municipal voting there May 12, while Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, Newport City Mayor Rick Ufford-Chase and Vergennes Mayor Chris Bearor aren’t up for reelection this year.) In other municipal matters, Brattleboro — the only community in the state to elect resident representatives for Town Meeting — is set to vote on whether to open its gathering to all or move to making decisions by ballot. Williston, for its part, will consider whether to eliminate its elected office of citizen lister (charged with determining the value of local taxable property) in favor of employing a professional assessor, following a growing number of communities replacing harder-to-find laypeople with easier-to-hire appointed experts. South Burlington is set to vote on a $2.3 million addition to its main fire station, as pictured in this city-provided drawing. Non-binding advisory articles Several of Vermont’s biggest communities are proposing changes to their local charters — the first step in a process that also requires state legislative approval. Burlington, for example, will ask voters to formalize its Office of Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging into its charter to support marginalized residents. As for non-binding advisory articles: — Essex Town will vote on whether to encourage local leaders to continue to pursue a new municipal complex, having purchased property on Upper Main Street in 2023. — At least seven communities — Middlebury and the smaller towns of Brandon, Bristol, Cornwall, Putney, Ripton, Salisbury and Weybridge — are set to consider whether to ask the Vermont Legislature to vote this session on House bill 433, which would launch the “incremental implementation” of a state universal health care plan. — Hartford and Montpelier will weigh an “apartheid-free community” pledge — in the capital city’s case, a year after rejecting it by a 1,181-887 margin. Springfield, for its part, will again cast ballots on whether to prohibit firearms at its 85-acre Hartness Park recreation area, having overturned a past hunting ban in 2024. Although most Vermont communities vote on local government matters on or around the traditional first Tuesday in March, several have different schedules. Barre City and Barre Town will cast school ballots on March 3 but wait on municipal questions until May 12. The city of Essex Junction, as per custom and charter, will decide local issues on April 14. And Brattleboro will choose municipal leaders on March 3 and consider a proposed annual budget at its Representative Town Meeting on March 21. Read the story on VTDigger here: March bond requests down 84% in Vermont’s biggest cities and towns. ...read more read less