HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft Minutes - Steering Committee - 07/20/2020STEERING COMMITTEE 20 JULY 2020
The South Burlington Steering Committee held a meeting on Monday, 20 July 2020,
interactively via remote Go to Meeting.
Members Present: City Council: H. Riehle, Chair; T. Barritt, M. Emery, D. Kaufman, T.
Chittenden, K. Dorn, City Manager; School District: E. Fitzgerald, A. lMcHenry, M. Lalonde, B.
Burkhardt, B. Minier, D. Young, Superintendent of Schools
Also Present: T. Hubbard, Deputy City Manager; P. Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning; I.
Blanchard, Project Manager; T. Leblanc, City Assessor, A. Cate, M. Lyons, M. Mittag, S. Doorley,
D. Wakter, B. Sirvis, M. Clark, C. Mitchell, A. Luzzato
1. Agenda Review: Additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items:
No changes were made to the Agenda.
2. Comments & Questions from the public not related to the agenda:
No issues were raised.
3. Minutes of 22 January 2020:
The Minutes of 22 January 2020 were approved by common consent.
4. 180 Market Street Progress:
Ms. Blanchard provided a brief update of the progress with the construction of the new City
Hall/Library building and with the road accessing Central School. Ms. Riehle commented that it
is good to see construction underway again.
5. Gertrude E. Chamberlin School Noise Mitigation Grant Update:
Supt. Young noted that the District is now using the full names of its schools.
A grant was submitted in collaboration with the Airport for noise mitigation at the G. E.
Chamberlin School. There has not yet been word as to whether the grant has been awarded.
The purpose of the grant is to provide noise mitigation measures that would allow the windows
to remain shut. The hope is to hear about the grant in the next few weeks.
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20 JULY 2020
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6. Status of the City-wide Reappraisal/Common Level of Appraisal Process:
Mr. Leblanc explained that due to the COVID outbreak reappraisal work was stalemated. The
process of collecting data recently started up again. They are looking for the best way to go
forward since access to the inside of people’s homes may not be possible and interviews may
happen on porches. Data entry should be done by January, and people will then be allowed to
review their data. Values will then be sent out, and the appeal process will start as usual. The
aim to get to 100% of Fair Market Value. The city is now at 88%. They will also try to iron out
inequities between similar properties. The results of the reappraisal will affect the tax rate but
it will be revenue neutral. Most values will go up, which will drive the tax rate down. The tax
bills that go out next July (2021) will have the new values.
Supt. Young noted the change in the CLA will not affect the school budget until 2023. He said
that volatility with the CLA is a major determiner of the tax rate for the School District. It will
put more pressure on the district if the CLA goes down again next year.
Ms. Emery asked if this affects the city budget. Mr. Hubbard said it does not.
Mr. Leblanc said the current CLA is 30 months old. It is supposed to equalize the taxes, but it
isn’t a perfect system. In reappraisal, some people will see values go up and others go down.
The ones whose values go up have been underpaying. Those whose values go down have been
overpaying. The goal is to bring equal values to similar properties.
Ms. Riehle said they need to prevail on the Other Paper to help educate the public about this.
Mr. Minier said they have 5 more mini-meetings regarding the school budget and can talk
about the CLA at those times.
Mr. Leblanc said he will contact the state to find out when the CLA goes into effect.
7. School Budget Presentation and August 11th Vote Date and Process:
Supt. Young said they received a lot of good input. He stressed that the proposed budget
meets the enrollment needs. It represents a 1.52% increase in expenditures. The
Superintendent noted that the District has spend $210,000 in COVID related expenses and will
have to spend more for such things as cleaning, providing people on buses to assess students,
relief for teachers, etc. He also noted that expenditures such as Special Ed Services, Health
Care, and transportation cannot be eliminated as they represent equity issues.
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20 JULY 2020
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For an average single family home, the proposed budget will increase taxes $31.00 per
$100,000 of value, before income sensitivity. Supt. Young then showed a chart of 5 and 10 year
trends and indicated the volatility based on the CLA.
Ms. Emery said she felt it was a very responsible budget and that students will still get an
excellent education.
Ms. Fitzgerald said they have made a lot of reductions and noted there will be deficits from the
quick closing of the schools. There will have to be a lot of assessment and logistical challenges
when schools reopen. She did not now what reimbursement the district will get or what will
happen if there is a resurgence of the disease.
Supt. Young stressed that they want students in school, but they will have to comply with
recommended procedures. The belief is that there will be a hybrid model because there are so
many students, and students will probably not be in school every day. They will also have to
look at what will happen with students at home and the need for supervision.
8. Property Tax Billing:
Mr. Hubbard explained the process for calculating the tax rate. Tax bills will be going out
before 15 August. The first installment will be due on 15 September. The second payment will
be moved from November to December. An interim tax rate will be used until there is an
approved school budget. Mr. Hubbard recognized and thanked Martha Lyons for her hard work
in getting tax billing organized.
9. Other Business:
a. Voting Process:
Supt. Young said ballots will be mailed to all registered voters. People who got an early ballot
before the school budget was included can request a school budget ballot.
As there was no further business to come before the Steering Committee, Mr. Barritt moved to
adjourn. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously and the meeting was
adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
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