Manager’s corner: A summer update from Waterbury’s municipal manager
August 31, 2023 | By Tom LeitzThis is the second installment of my semi-regular/quarterly update. Anyone who is interested in more detail can always call me or stop in at Town Hall.
Scheduled summer work
To start, even without the flood, the rainy summer has made some work challenging. We had initially hoped to finish paving Howard Avenue some time ago, and to immediately start on Little River Road. Both of those projects were delayed due to the weather. The good news is we are on schedule to complete our overall paving plan, just a month later than hoped.
We are also on track to begin a water main replacement project that runs from our water storage reservoir at the end of Blackberry Lane on Blush Hill down towards the Best Western through the Kennedy Drive and Ashford Lane neighborhood. That project will begin soon and we plan to repave those roads next summer. I believe they are the worst roads we have in town, so getting this project across the finish line is one of our highest priorities.
On to the flood
Municipal Manager Tom Leitz talks with residents along Main Street. Photo by Gordon Miller
First, as was to be expected as the Winooski River rose, all town staff put in extra time and energy, no matter their roles. In particular, some of our staff in the Public Works, Water and Wastewater departments put in a herculean effort. As the still “semi-new” manager, it was wonderful to see their dedication. The week after the flood when reviewing payroll, I signed off on several timesheets showing near 100-hour work weeks.
There were so many people who contributed to our flood response, but I want to especially acknowledge the efforts of Select Board members Dani Kehlmann and Alyssa Johnson, and Board of Civil Authority Chair Liz Schlegel, who created and effectively managed huge swaths of the town’s flood response. They essentially created a 211 system for Waterbury and then led the effort to coordinate the volunteer efforts that assisted with cleanup. As part of this, they put their lives on hold and lived out of Town Hall for several weeks.
I also want to honor the efforts of former select board member and current lister and justice of the peace Bob Butler. On the morning of July 11, we made an immediate decision to order and pay for dumpsters. This was straight from the Irene playbook and one of the lessons learned. After that decision, we immediately called Casella only to find out that Bob had already made the call and we were first in line. I learned in that moment that Bob served as the dumpster czar during Irene, and he had already stepped up to do the same for this flood.
In so many ways we all benefited from those who experienced Irene; the challenge now will be conducting our own after action to ensure we document our lessons learned and take steps to better prepare for the future, which is forecast to be warmer and wetter. There will be much more to come as we develop and implement projects that will serve to lessen the impact of future floods. The Select Board is in the process of creating a new standing committee that will take a lead role in tackling that challenge.
Town Charter
The town Select Board has held several meetings to discuss creating a town charter and this work will likely culminate in a formal vote in late November.
Vermont towns are generally governed by state law. Towns sometimes desire to deviate from what the state allows us to do, and this requires the adoption of charter. A charter can only be adopted by a formal public vote after a public hearing. Once a charter is approved locally it does not become law until it is ratified by the Legislature. The Legislature has been supportive of town charters in recent years.
In Waterbury there are two fundamental issues we are seeking to address via a charter. The first pertains to the authority of the manager to hire employees. Generally speaking, the manager hires all employees, but there are some positions where the hiring process is outlined in state law, and that causes complications.
In our Planning and Zoning Department, for example, the hiring process for a zoning administrator begins with the Planning Commission conducting interviews and ultimately making a recommendation to the Select Board. To make matters worse, our zoning administrator primarily works on permit issues that are under the purview of the Development Review Board. So, in this instance, we have an individual whose hiring is recommended by a board for whom the employee does not normally work. Finally, the manager supervises this position on a day-to-day basis and has the authority to give merit increases or to discipline the employee.
The draft charter we have discussed simply provides the manager the authority to hire people for these positions. This eliminates the complicated process that is now required and takes the burden away from volunteer boards.
We have also discussed some other language related to the authority of the manager. One section requires the Select Board’s approval when a department head position is hired. The language does not mention the specific form of approval, so it can be informal if desired. I think this is an important balance of power between the manager and Select Board.
Another potential clause we have discussed is a simple issue that allows for the manager, at their discretion, to delegate authority to department heads when hiring or disciplining an employee. This is another issue that I believe is both simple and logical. The public works director, for example, is better positioned to evaluate the performance of an equipment operator than the town manager. This language is also consistent with our employee handbook.
Our draft charter also has some language related to the authority of the manager to provide pay increases. At a recent select board meeting this proved to be a difficult topic to navigate. I felt it was important to have some language that provides some guardrails on the process, but there are numerous ways to write that language and still have reasonable disagreements. In the end, I suspect this language may be removed entirely, as it boils down to the relationship between the manager and Select Board. In short, the manager – whether a matter of law or judgment – has an obligation to keep the board informed and to obtain their approval on items of importance. In reality, I would not ask the permission of the Select Board if I was giving an employee a minor merit increase. If the increase was larger, or if I was proposing a change in job duties, I would certainly seek board input.
Local Option Tax
The most consequential charter language we are discussing pertains to the creation of a local option tax. We have had several discussions about this tax, which amounts to a 1% retail sales tax, and I believe it is in the town’s interest to have this revenue stream.
First, were the tax in place last year, the town would have realized $600,000 in revenue. To place that figure in context the town will collect $4.26 million in property taxes this year, our paving budget is $405,000, our contract with the state police is $400,000, and the entire cost to run the public library is $560,000.
Another point of comparison is our town tax rate, which is currently 54.39 cents per $100 of property value. If the town were to raise the tax rate by one penny, we would collect $78,000 in additional revenue. The local option tax therefore equates to 7.7 cents per $100 of property value.
Also, using today’s interest rates, an annual revenue stream of $600,000 could pay the interest on a $9 million bond. That means the town would have some ability to perform necessary capital projects – notably road and bridge work – and the debt could be paid through the local option tax rather than property taxes. We would also have some ability to pay down our existing debt, and to simply pay cash for future projects that would otherwise require a bond vote.
Regardless of the metric, the revenue would have a meaningful and visible impact on town government. I deliberately use the word “visible” because I believe you would see the effect of the local option tax on our infrastructure.
I don’t have any robust data to break down how much of the new tax would be paid by residents vs. non-residents. In 2022, Revitalizing Waterbury enlisted a consulting firm to conduct a retail market analysis. As part of that effort, 11 businesses were surveyed and they reported 41% of their customers were from Waterbury. That is but one data point, but it would indicate that approximately $360,000 of a local option tax would be paid by non-residents.
Over the past two decades the town has raised property taxes on average 5% per year – roughly double the rate of inflation. The local option tax is the only meaningful option we have as a town to more directly benefit from non-resident spending, and to better control the growth in our property taxes.
Town staff
Since my last update there have been some staffing changes here at Town Hall. Neal Leitner had been serving as the town’s Assistant Zoning Administrator since April 2022. He recently was promoted to Planning Director. Neal’s new role is timely as the Planning Commission is working on a major rewrite of the town’s Development Bylaws. That effort has taken years, but in the last few months, Neal has injected some welcome energy into the process and is clearly doing a wonderful job to work with the Planning Commission to complete the work. Neal has two decades of relevant experience along with an advanced degree, and that shows in the quality of his work. We are currently in the process of hiring a new Zoning Administrator, and hope to fill that position in the next month or two.
I am also pleased to report that Katarina Lisaius is now the town’s Recreation Director. Katarina has over a decade of valuable experience in federal and state government. Her first day here was July 10, which was the day the flood waters rose, and by the following day we were in flood response mode. I quickly learned to appreciate Katarina’s professionalism as she had to address some difficult challenges immediately, and with little input from me. I also appreciate that Katarina is naturally collaborative – and I believe she is going to lead us into some new programs, while improving what is already in place. Our next goal is to round out the department and to hire a second full-time position to assist Katarina with some of the boots-on-the-ground work.
Housing projects
The affordable housing project at 51 South Main Street continues to move forward. Downstreet Housing & Community Development has submitted sketch drawings and a formal zoning permit application for the project. That will be on the agenda for the Development Review Board on Thursday, Sept. 6. I remain hopeful construction will commence next year.
The Legislature also passed a bill providing the town the option to purchase the site of the former Stanley and Wasson Halls at the State Office Complex. This is a 2.5-acre parcel near the intersection of Park Row and Randall Street. We are working through the legal process to acquire the land, and I am simultaneously engaging with potential development partners to discuss multi-family housing options. This is a project that will take some time – likely several years – to bring to fruition, and it may also require some municipal investment. But I also think there is a long-term benefit to the town, especially because the site could accommodate over 75 housing units, which could be a significant addition to our grand list.
Waterbury Municipal Manager Tom Leitz can be reached at tleitz@waterburyvt.com or 802-244-4300.