Burlington voters approved four ballot initiatives on Town Meeting Day, including a 5-cent police and fire tax increase intended to help close a multimillion dollar gap in the city budget.
Along with the tax increase, voters approved a $140.8 million Burlington School District budget; a charter change that permanently enshrines the Office of Racial Equity, Inclusion & Belonging in city code; and a $2,000 annual stipend for school board members.
Each initiative passed by a healthy margin, with 67 percent of voters backing the school budget, 70 percent approving the tax increase and 62 getting behind the stipends for school commissioners, according to unofficial results compiled by Town Meeting TV.
But the closest one was the charter change, which received 57 percent of the vote. That change must still make its way through the legislature and be signed by Gov. Phil Scott to take effect — no guarantee, as Burlington already has five charter changes waiting for action in the legislature, some dating back to 2021.
Progressive Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak pitched the increase to the police and fire tax in December as a way to make up ground on the city’s $12 million budget gap, a ballooning deficit caused in part by rising personnel costs.
The increase is set to generate $3 million in additional revenue, still leaving a multimillion budget gap the city will now have to address. The police and fire tax was increased by 3 cents just two years ago.
With the successful passage of the tax increase, owners of a home valued at $353,000 will see their municipal taxes increase by $186.
Fiscal year 2027, which begins in July, will mark the second year of Mulvaney-Stanak’s “ModernGov” initiative, a campaign that the mayor has consistently pitched as a way to find cost savings, in part by eliminating overlapping roles. The initiative has generated $2 million in savings this year by merging two city departments and reorganizing several others into a new Department of Finance & Administration, according to the mayor. Last year, the city also laid off 18 employees and left seven positions vacant to help cut costs. More layoffs are likely in the months ahead.
The tax impact of the Burlington school budget is a 4.7 percent increase. In its annual report, the district said it’s trying to control costs by eliminating 10 district positions, including six teachers, in response to declining enrollment, marking the fourth consecutive budget cycle to feature staff reductions.
The vote to formally establish the Office of Racial Equity, Inclusion & Belonging would codify a department that was first created in 2019. Kelli Perkins was brought on as the newest director last fall after somewhat tumultuous — and brief — tenures for the previous directors. Perkins currently oversees a department with four staffers.
