CRAFTSBURY, GREENSBORO – Town Clerks have been notifying residents and area nonprofit organizations that deadlines are approaching to submit information and appropriation requests to be included in printed reports for town meetings on March 4, 2025.
As towns work to finalize budgets and work with printers to establish deadlines for printing town reports, Greensboro’s Town Clerk, Kim Greaves suggests reports from organizations and appropriation requests be turned in by Christmas.
In towns where town officials are voted by Australian Ballot, deadlines may be as early as Christmas. In towns where officials are voted on from the floor, nominations can be made at the meeting.
In Craftsbury, where town officials are elected by Australian ballot, Town Clerk Michelle Warren has asked those interested in running for office to stop at the town clerk’s office in early January to fill out the required consent form.
Elected positions to be voted on by Australian Ballot in 2025, and for which residents may place their name on the ballot, are a select board seat with a three-year term now held by Bruce Urie.
The select board is at the center of town government in Vermont, and Craftsbury is no exception. Craftsbury has a three-member select board. Members are elected by Craftsbury voters at town meeting, for staggered three-year terms. The select board is responsible for the general supervision of town affairs. It has a number of functions, including some that are legislative, such as enacting local ordinances, regulations and policies and others that are executive/administrative, to include preparing a budget, overseeing all town expenditures, supervising town employees and controlling town buildings and property. The select board also does work that is quasi-judicial, for example, it determines private rights when the town is laying out and reclassifying town highways.
A three-year term for auditor now held by Cheryl Bailey is to be voted on. Auditors review local officials’ accounts and report their findings directly to the voters before the annual town meeting. They serve the critical role of presenting a comprehensive picture of the town’s finances and ensuring public officials remain accountable to the voters.
A three-year term for lister now filled by Jeremiah McCann will be on the ballot. Listers determine the value of the real and personal property in the town. The Selectboard then sets a tax rate necessary to raise the money to pay for town services and schools. The Craftsbury Board of Listers, like most Vermont towns, consists of three members. They are elected one position per year for three-year terms.
The public library trustee seat with a four-year term now held by incumbent Steve Moffatt will be voted on to appoint the elected town representative for the Craftsbury Public Library.
The cemetery commissioner seat with a five-year term now filled by Bruce Urie is to be voted on. Cemetery commissioners care and manage Craftsbury’s public cemeteries owned by the Town. Currently, the cemeteries in Craftsbury are not owned by the Town.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
