Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont internship, for the Times Argus
East Montpelier voters will decide on Town Meeting Day whether officials should continue mailing the town’s annual report to all residents.
If approved, Article 5 on the ballot would instead allow the town to send each resident a postcard explaining that the report is ready to review. The change would put an end to a tradition that dates back more than 150 years.
“We feel that most citizens in our town can access the information in the town report electronically at a minimal cost to the town,” select board chair Seth Gardner said in an emailed statement.
Town Clerk Rosie Laquerre said in an email that mailing postcards would save the town up to $4,800 a year.
“While this may not seem like much, it’s important for towns to contain costs as much as possible while still maintaining information for voters,” she said.
Print versions of the report would still be available at various locations, including the town offices, East Montpelier Elementary School Library and Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier, Laquerre said. Residents would also be able to find the report online or request that a print version be mailed to them.
But residents have mixed feelings about ending the tradition, which started in 1869.
“No drawbacks that I know of,” Gardner told the Times Argus. “Some people may be opposed to it because they may like the tradition. However, the print version will still be available.”
Rubin Bennett, a resident and business owner in East Montpelier, expressed a different opinion. In an email response, Bennett said he worries that some of his less-mobile neighbors would struggle to pick up copies at the town offices.
“Economic decisions like this always seem to disproportionally impact our least privileged neighbors,” Bennett said.
Bennett says he would always read the annual report before and during the town meeting, focusing on the town’s finances and looking for trends over time.
“I can walk in with specific questions for town officers and points of discussion I’d like to see covered and/or bring up,” he said. “It also gives me time to contact people either in our town government or neighbors to gain insight and information about the decisions we’re being asked to make.”
The ballot item will be voted on via Australian ballot on Tuesday, March 3, along with questions about the town budget and library funding. Items to be voted on the floor include contributions to various local nonprofits and setting due dates for tax payments.