LONDONDERRY, Vt. – At the Jan. 20 Londonderry Selectboard meeting, the board discussed articles and budgets on the warning for their upcoming annual Town Meeting.
The board considered amending the engineering contract with the structural design firm Hoyle, Tanner & Associates Inc. Town administrator Shane O’Keefe reported that there were some amended construction specifications for the Spring Hill Road Culvert project, resulting in an additional $18,000 in expenses. The town has a $350,000 grant from VTrans, and O’Keefe stated another $175,000 from VTrans will help cover “soft costs” with an extended construction grant, but they will still need to borrow money for the project when it goes out to bid.
There was then a lengthy discussion on Articles 14 and 15 on the Town Warning, pertaining to the possibility of adding a portion of the current local options tax as a revenue stream for, and what percentage of the that revenue would be deposited into, the Community Economic Improvement Reserve Fund. This fund “supports municipal efforts to plan, promote, and implement economic recovery, revitalization, and development efforts.” The fund can be used by any board or commission for the specified uses.
As a prerequisite, on Article 13, the Londonderry Housing Commission requested that “housing” be added to the purposes of the fund, for uses such as housing crisis relief and affordable housing.
The improvement reserve fund was established in 2021, and $5,000 has been put into the fund each year since. This year, Patty Eisenhaur, Londonderry Housing Commission chair, requested the board allocate 50% of the generated options tax funds to the improvement reserve fund on Article 15.
At last year’s Town Meeting, a 1% local options tax on rooms and alcohol was approved by voters, which was established to generate revenue to help offset taxes. Board Chair Tom Cavanagh noted that an additional 1% sales tax, which could have generated a larger figure to offset the town’s expenses, was not approved by the voters. It was forecasted that the fiscal year 2025-2026 would generate about $50,000 in revenue from the local options tax, therefore allocating $25,000 to the improvement reserve fund, if approved.
There was discussion about designating a percentage versus a set figure to the fund. Board member Taylor Prouty expressed his approval of the idea of the resources being used for housing, but thought that it would be “more likely to pass if it [was] an appropriation.” Treasurer Tina Labeau agreed, expressing that it would make her job a “nightmare” to keep track of a percentage that would change from year to year based on the revenue from the options tax, which also fluctuates.
The board moved to approve Article 13 to add “housing” to the uses of the Community Economic Improvement Reserve Fund. They also removed Articles 14 and 15 from the warning, and amended Article 16 to vote to approve the appropriated sum of $25,000 to be deposited into the improvement reserve fund.
The town office renovation project bond repayment terms were then voted on, with the approval of a 20-year term. A 30-year term would have resulted in over $900,000 in interest fees, while the more aggressive 20-year term lowered the interest rates and overall interest costs to $594,360.
The fiscal year 2026 budget of $3,153,024 was then approved to be presented to the voters at Town Meeting.
After an executive session, the board then moved to execute a contract with O’Keefe, beyond his current employment, to remain a part-time employee as assistant town administrator and project coordinator through June 30.
The Londonderry Selectboard meets the first and third Monday of each month, at 6 p.m.