Latest News Items

Financial reports for the General Fund, Sewer Fund and Water Fund are now online at http://manchester-vt.gov/content/town-financial-reports.

Dog and cat owners, there will be a rabies clinic at the Town of Manchester Fire Department (6041 Main Street) on Wednesday, March 10 between the hours of 4:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. A fee of $10.00 per animal will be charged. Dog owners may also license their dogs at this event. Please crate or leash all animals. For more information please call Town Clerk Linda Spence at 362-1315.

From The Rutland Herald

By PATRICK McARDLE STAFF WRITER 

Published: February 12, 2010

MANCHESTER – While Manchester is one of the state's so-called "gold towns," the town's effective municipal tax rate is one of the lowest in Vermont and even lower when adjusted for the town's population.

Manchester Select Board Chairman Ivan Beattie said the board works hard to keep the municipal tax rate low even though some think of Manchester as a wealthy town.

"Manchester's looked at as a gold town, as a sending town, but my point has always been there are poor people in rich towns and rich people in poor towns. Towns don't pay taxes, people do," he said.

A study from the Vermont Department of Taxes released last month listed Manchester's municipal property tax rate of 16 cents per $100 of assessed value at 16th lowest among Vermont's more than 250 municipalities. Last year, the town was 12th.

The list calculates the "effective municipal tax rate," which is the municipal tax rate if all the towns had a perfect common level of appraisal. The common level of appraisal, which compares the assessed values of homes to their actual selling prices, can affect the tax rate as it drops below 100 percent.

The list also includes two towns, Lewis and Avery's Gore, which have a population of one person, and one town, Warner's Grant, with a population of zero. All three are in Essex County.

But when the list is adjusted so Manchester, with a population of almost 4,300, is compared to towns with a population of at least three figures, Manchester's municipal tax rate is eighth lowest in the state.

Manchester's place on the list doesn't mean its residents have among the lowest tax bills in the state. The municipal tax rate, imposed by the town, is only part of a resident's tax bill and Manchester residents pay much more in school taxes.

In Vermont, all towns participate in funding for all of the schools in the state. Towns where property taxes are high, like Manchester, are called "sending towns" because they send more to Montpelier than they receive back for their local schools.

Town Manager John O'Keefe said another factor that keeps municipal taxes low is that the town collects local option taxes and uses them for property tax relief.

In Vermont, towns could only collect property taxes until about 10 years ago, when the Legislature created the local option tax that allows certain towns to collect 1 percent on retail sales, meals and alcohol, hotel rooms or any combination of the three categories.

Manchester collects all three of the taxes that O'Keefe said reduced the tax burden by almost $1 million for residents.

"The other thing that really keeps Manchester's tax rate down is we have a very, very long and proud tradition of civic participation in philanthropic causes. For example, the (Mark Skinner) library is a not-for-profit, the hockey rink is a not-for-profit, Hildene is a not-for-profit, the Southern Vermont Arts Center - a lot of things other towns may take on, we have not-for-profits that have taken up that role," he said.

O'Keefe said he believed the municipal tax rate wasn't just a direct benefit to taxpayers, it's also an advantage because it can be a "selling point" to encourage people and business owners to move to Manchester.

Beattie said the town and the Select Board always try to "live within our means" and tie the growth of spending to the growth of the grand list. The tax rate for next year is expected to be flat if the budget is approved in March as it's being presented.

"Without riding herd on it, it's amazing how quickly it balloons. I've seen it happen. When you go in and look at every single line (of the budget) and you can save a couple hundred dollars here and $500 there, by taking that approach, when you get through the whole thing, you've done a good job of holding the line," he said.

Beattie and O'Keefe said the Select Board also took a cautious approach to adding new services or approving projects until there had been a thorough review of costs, both now and in the future, and whether the projects would be able to generate enough revenue to not increase the burden on taxpayers.

According to the Department of Taxes, only Glastenbury, with a population of 15, and Woodford, with a population of almost 400 people, have lower effective municipal tax rates in Bennington County.

After 40 years of service to the Town of Manchester Chief Manfred "Fred" Wessner" announced his retirement at the December 8, 2009 Selectboard meeting. His retirement is effective July 1, 2010.

The public is invited to a meeting with Town Manager John O'Keefe and the Town's consultant, retired State Police Colonel James Baker, on Tuesday, February 2 at 6:00PM at the Manchester Town Hall. The discussion will be focused on the draft job description for the Chief of Police and the mission of the Police Department. It is not intended to be a forum to discuss possible candidates or the operation of the Police Department. Visit the Chief of Police Recruitment page to learn more about the search for a new Police Chief and review the draft job description.

TOWN OF MANCHESTER

 PROPERTY TAXPAYERS

The Second Installment of the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 taxes is due and payable on or before February 5, 2010, at 4:30 pm.  Taxpayers may pay this installment in one of the following ways:

1)  By Mail. Send check or money order to the Town of Manchester, Finance Office, 6039 Main Street, Manchester Ctr VT 05255. Payments not postmarked by the due date will be deemed delinquent and are subject to  interest charges, (1% per month or portion, first three months, 1 ½% per month thereafter), and 8% lien penalty, by law.

2)  In Person. The Finance Office is open between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. Voters at Town Meeting established the dates and time of installments. Payments made in person after that time will be deemed delinquent and are subject to late charges, by law.

Please use the correct Town of Manchester mailing address: 

TOWN OF MANCHESTER, 6039 MAIN ST, MANCHESTER CTR  VT  05255

2010 HS122-Declaration of Vermont Homestead AND Property Tax Adjustment Claim: The state forms are available in the Vermont Income Tax booklets. “File Form HS-122 as early as possible. Due date is APRIL 15, 2010. Form HS-122 may be filed separately from your income tax return. No extension of time to file is available and an extension of time to file an income tax return does not apply to the Form HS-122.” Also, “Filings after April 15 but on or before September 1 are late but you can still declare a homestead and claim property tax adjustment. Homeowners filing after September 1 are taxed at the higher school tax rate and are ineligible to claim property tax adjustment.  Late filing penalties apply to all forms filed after April 15.”  And, finally, “Form HS-122 Section A, VT Homestead Declaration, must be filed even if past the September 1 due date when the property was your principal home April 1, 2010.”   You may file the paper form (found in Vermont Income Tax Booklet), or e-file at http://tax.vermont.gov.

Residents with concerns or questions about street and sidewalk plowing should call the Department of Public Works Director Jeff Williams at (802) 362-3283 (leave a message) or the 24-hour Dispatch Center at (802) 362-2022. Residents and businesses are reminded that it is the responsibility of property owners to clear snow from sidewalks in front of their property. The Town does provided limited sidewalk plowing as a convenience, but Town policy places a priority on roadway plowing. Please do not push snow into roadways.

On December 11 Town Manager John O'Keefe submitted his budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2011 (beginning July 1, 2010) to the Selectboard and Board of Water Commissioners. On the General Fund side, the property tax burden would increase by $12,984 or 0.58% compared to Fiscal Year 2010 (adjusted tax rate). O'Keefe warned that General Fund spending was projected to increase by over $300,000 in FY 2012 (beginning July 1, 2011) without any changes to policy or spending or increases in non-property tax revenue. Click here to visit the Town Report and Budget page to view the entire budget and transmittal letter.

The budget will be considered and amended by the Selectboard and Board of Water Commissioners before being presented to Town Meeting in March 2010 for its consideration. The Selectboard has scheduled a hearing on the Town Manager's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2011 for Wednesday, December 16 beginning at 8:30AM. The meeting is scheduled for all day. The Board of Water Commissioners has scheduled a meeting for Thursday, December 17 beginning at 8:30AM.