Special Selectboard Budget Informational 2/7/26

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Selectboard Budget Info Minutes 02-07-26 193 KB

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Town of Richmond 
 Special Budget Informational Selectboard Meeting
Minutes of February 7, 2026

Members Present:  Caitlin Filkins, Bard Hill, Greg Rabideau, David Sander, 

Absent:  Adam Wood

Staff Present: Josh Arneson, Town Manager; Duncan Wardwell, Deputy Town Manager; Susanne Parent, Town Clerk; Gerald Levesque, Fire Chief

Others Present:  Recorded by MMCTV, Jean Haskin, Martha Nye, Mary Houle, Sam Pratt, Tom Astle, Virginia Clarke

MMCTV Video: 
https://www.youtube.com/live/8olpewRfyAA?si=J0egW3SIYhBsWCpl&t=941 

 

Call to Order: 10:00 AM

 

Welcome by:  Filkins

 

Public Comment:  None

Additions, Deletions or Modifications to Agenda:  None


Items for Presentation or Discussion with those present


Australian Ballot Information Hearing
Timestamp: 0:01
2 TOWN REPORT 2026 WARNING FINAL  

Arneson reviewed that this is the first of two public informational hearings for Australian ballot items prior to Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 3.  The second informational meeting will be on Monday, February 23 at 7 PM.  He will go over the budget, discuss the Town Plan, the Conservation Reserve Fund, the Town Center Reserve Fund, and Charitable Appropriations.  These are all Australian Ballot items for Town Meeting.  There are no chances to amend the budget as the Warning is already printed and ready for Town Meeting.  Arneson illustrated that information on Town Meeting and the budget can be found at:
https://www.richmondvt.gov/news/post/annual-town-meeting-march-3-2026 


Review and discuss Article 6: Shall the voters of the Town of Richmond approve a budget of $5,955,969.00 to meet the expenses and liabilities of the Town of Richmond in Fiscal Year 2027?
Timestamp: 4:30
2a1 FY27 FINAL Budget for Town Report 
2a2 FY27 FINAL Budget for Town Report 
2a3 Budget Notes 
2a4 Reserve Funds 
2a5 Town Center Fund 
2a6 FY27 Capital Plan 3A 12-15-25 
2a7 FY2027 Budget Presentation - 2-3-26 

Arneson presented the slideshow for the two Informational Meetings and Town Meeting Day:
https://www.richmondvt.gov/fileadmin/files/Selectboard/Meetings/2026/02/2a7_FY2027_Budget_Presentation_-_2-3-26.pdf 

Parent reviewed that the Records Restoration Reserve Fund has to do with making sure that the land records can be digitized and to help pay for things like if the vault door fails.

Houle suggested sweeping what is left in the Conservation Reserve Fund into the Town Center Reserve Fund.  Arneson reviewed that they could submit a specific Town Center project for the Town Center to the Conservation Reserve Fund to consider.  Rabideau suggested that flood resilient improvements might serve a necessary Conservation function.  

Haskins reviewed that if a house is valued at $500,000 then they are going to have a total tax bill of $9,739 or just shy of $10,000.  Haskins wondered how she would be able to continue to live in this Town.  Rabideau stated that double-digit inflation of the school budgets drive this.  Sander illustrated that the Selectboard only has control over the Municipal Tax Rate. 


Review and discuss Article 7: Shall the voters of the Town of Richmond, as required under 24 VSA § 4385, adopt the 2026 Richmond Town Plan?
Timestamp: 0:52
2b 4.0 - TOWN PLAN 2026 FOURTH DRAFT EDITS CLEAN 1.21.26 - SB Changes


Clarke, the Chair of the Planning Commission, illustrated that every 8 years, the Town has to publish a Municipal Town Plan that has to abide by the requirements of the Regional Planning Commission and any new statutes approved over the course of the year.  The Town Plan is an aspirational document as it does not have any direct regulatory force.  It provides some guidelines for what they can do in the future.  Clarke presented the 11 categories that have to be covered.  They formed a Steering Committee to reformulate the sections based on public input, new State laws, and new regional initiatives.  There is an Implementation Table which lists all the Action items with goals, owners, and primary parties.  All of these Actions depend on people who are passionate about it and whether the Selectboard thinks it is a good idea.  About half of the Actions in the 2018 Town Plan were completed. Some of them show up again and some of them have retired.  Clarke illustrated that the Appendix has historically valuable information like Richmond history, resources for public health, and geology.  Clarke stated that the Town Plan includes new statutes on requirements for housing, conservation, energy, and climate change.  They had to take into consideration the new State-wide goals and visions as well as their own.  Clark read the vison for the 2026 Town Plan:
“We will preserve Richmond's working and natural landscapes, village character, and community spirit while expanding opportunities, improving access and strengthening resilience for all residents.”

Clarke stated that they identified sources of controversy in each Section to illustrate the challenges.  Clarke clarified that strengthening infrastructure might be improving culverts, sidewalks/crosswalks, treatment plants, roads, and buildings.  Clarke confirmed that the Act 250 review was present the whole time they were working on the Town Plan.  In some cases, they have reduced the oversight of Act 250 in downtown areas where there is already housing.  It does not matter what the Municipal Map shows, if the Act 250 Map shows something in Tier 3 then their new greater emphasized rules will be in place.  The current exception/controversy is the Road Rule which says that if you make a road that’s 800-feet or longer or combined driveways and other paved surfaces of 2000-feet then Tier 3 regulations apply. That is nothing that they can do anything about it, but the Act 250 Board will have to decide if the Road Rule goes into place.  Clarke stated that the Planning Commissions point of view is to be consistent with the State goal of having 85% of the new growth occur in already developed areas where there is existing infrastructure.  

Nye stated that we all should be concerned about the wasted gas and fumes produced by the traffic on Jericho Road.  The school and the Town should work together to encourage families to use the busses.  Filkins stated that the Superintendent and Schoolboard are focused on trying to get ridership up on the buses.  Sander observed that there are a lot of residences in Richmond that are not served by the bus route.  Clarke illustrated a goal in the Town Plan to understand the transportation system.  Clarke observed that a bus ride for a child in Huntington takes about 1.5 hours.  The Planning Commission had an idea of having a shuttle from outside the Village, but it is difficult to implement with a lot of standing objections.  

Clarke summarized that the only change the Selectboard made at their approval of the Town Plan was to remove the Future Land Use Map that the Steering Committee and Planning Commission had presented and returned to the basic Regional Planning Commission’s new map.  Clarke stated that people can find the Town Plan on the Town website:
https://www.richmondvt.gov/fileadmin/files/Planning_Commission/4.0_-_TOWN_PLAN_2026_FOURTH_DRAFT_EDITS_CLEAN_1.21.26_-_SB_Changes.pdf 


Review and discuss Article 8: Shall the voters of the Town of Richmond approve funding the Conservation Reserve Fund by adding one cent to the municipal tax rate in Fiscal Year 2027?
2c1 CRF Info Sheet 02-06-26
2c2 CRF Renewal 02-06-26
Timestamp: 1:26

Pratt presented the CRF Renewal presentation and the CRF Info Sheet from the packet.  The Conservation Reserve Fund is financed by 1 cent on the tax rate so that it costs a taxpayer $10 for every $100,000 of assessed value.  Houle observed that the map that shows the conserved areas should include the floodplain.   


Review and discuss Article 9: Shall the voters of the Town of Richmond approve funding the Town Center Reserve Fund by adding one cent to the municipal tax rate in Fiscal Year 2027?
Timestamp: 1:59

Arneson reviewed the income and expenses associated with the Town Center Reserve Fund from 7/1/2024 (balance of $266,180) to 6/30/2050 (balance of $336,629).  The proposal on the ballot would add about $80,000.  Arneson illustrated that this is to help fund some of the larger projects looming for the Town Center building.  Rabideau listed the big projects as replacing exterior windows, providing flood resilience for building systems, and general upkeep/repair that has been deferred for a long time.  


Review and discuss Articles 10 - 18: Charitable Appropriations voted by Australian ballot
Timestamp: 2:06
2e1 Vermont Family Network Appropriations FY27
2e2 Age Well Appropriations FY27
2e3 VT Center for Independent Living Appropriations FY27
2e4 COTS Appropriations FY27
2e5 OCCC Appropriations FY27 
2e6 Steps to End Domestic Violence Appropriations FY27 
2e7 Turning Point Appropriations FY27 
2e8 Hope Works Appropriations FY27 
2e9 Howard Center Appropriations FY27

Arneson illustrated the different Charitable Appropriations requests provided in the packet links.  

Filkins stated that the Vermont Family Network is doing powerful work making sure that folks have resources in times of emergency.  

Rabideau stated that as a member of the Richmond Congregational Church which routinely serves at the COTS day-station downtown and the demographics are very broad with many women and elderly people.  Filkins stated that COTS also serves teens and younger folks without housing.  

Parent illustrated that MMUSD has cut bussing this summer, so it is even more important to have OCCC.  Rabideau stated that it is noteworthy that 30% of the OCCC campers and 50% of the OCCC staff are local.  Filkins stated that OCCC also helps our economy of the parents who can be more effective working rather than childcare in the house.  

Hill stated that Age Well is one of five area agencies on aging in Vermont.  With an aging population, there is more demand for some of the things that they do.

Filkins stated that a lot of Town members work at Howard Center and they are up against the federal funding issues.     


Adjourn

Sander moved to adjourn.  Hill seconded. 
Roll Call Vote: Filkins, Hill, Rabideau in favor.  Wood absent.  Motion approved.

Meeting adjourned at: 12:29 PM

Chat file from Zoom: 
00:53:28          Caitlin Filkins:            Combined tax view: Page 44
01:09:00          Jean Haskin:    Heat?.. I’m freezing
01:15:31          Martha Nye:    As we try to mitigate climate change
01:20:51          Caitlin Filkins:            I see your hand, Martha - I’ll call on you momentarily!
02:02:33          Jean Haskin:    I have a chestnut tree