By Sam Douglass
In the Northeast Kingdom last Thursday, hundreds of Troy voters packed the school gymnasium to meet in two separate town meetings to determine whether the Village of North Troy would lose its municipal charter and merge into the town. With the merger requiring two affirmative votes to pass, the merger failed. The question did pass in the village (70 to 23), but failed in town (126 to 136). Across the state, many towns have attempted to eliminate their incorporated villages, including the recent mergers in Lyndon and Ludlow.
In the discussion prior to the votes, many questions were asked and opinions expressed. Some residents felt that the savings didn’t justify making a change. Others felt strongly that the merger would bring unity. Others felt that more robust budget and tax calculations were necessary before any merger occurred.
“So we’re talking pennies here,” said resident Jacob Mayhew about the estimated post-merger Troy tax rate, which was projected to be roughly $0.01 lower than the current rate.
Residents of Troy were expected to see a small reduction to their tax rate, but due to the elimination of the village office, North Troy residents would see a much larger reduction, possibly up to 14 percent. However, some residents questioned future costs to town residents, including costs associated with the North Troy fire department and the water/sewer system.
Another resident arguing against the merger questioned whether the projected savings of $0.01 justified eliminating 150 years of municipal precedence.
“If it [North Troy] has worked for 150 years, why would we change it now,” she said, which elicited notable applause.
During discussion on the village vote, one resident asked for the entire merger plan to be read aloud. His reasoning was that much of the plan was not covered in the informational meetings and printed copies were not widely available. His motion failed. It should be noted that the merger plan has been available online and one printed copy was available at the front of the room for the vote. Similarly, during discussion on the town vote, a different resident asked voters to raise their hands if they felt that they didn’t have enough information to vote, but few people raised their hands.
Throughout both meetings, multiple residents wanted to know how a merger would benefit themselves or their family, but this wasn’t the case for everyone. One resident of the town explained that her support of the merger didn’t come from what she stood to benefit with the admittedly small tax savings that she would receive, but as a matter of equity, as North Troy residents are currently required to pay more in taxes.
After the vote was tallied and announced, Troy Selectboard Chairman Robert Langlands and North Troy Trustee Helene Croteau gave their opinion on the vote.
“We worked hard, and we came together. I’m disappointed, but it’s democracy and that’s the end of it,” said Langlands.
“It was a very long process for the selectboard,” said Croteau. “It was a tremendous amount of hours and it was a lot of work. It’s finally over and the voters have spoken.”
The Troy Selectboard sought high turnout and robust voter education on the merger. They placed advertisements in local newspapers, placed yard signs throughout the town, and held multiple informational meetings in excess of the number required by law.
Brief history of some prominent municipal mergers
On July 1, 2022 the Village of Essex Junction became the City of Essex Junction. Since 1892 the Village of Essex Junction had been an incorporated municipality within the Town of Essex, resulting in Village residents being residents of both municipalities. This model worked for many years, though as both municipalities grew and residents of both the Village and Town desired increased services, Village residents and businesses were burdened with paying property taxes to two municipalities.
Since 1958 there had been many attempts to either merge with the Town or separate from the Town, none of which resulted in a legislatively-approved remedy. In 2021, Village residents unilaterally voted to pursue separation from the Town. This moment also occurs 100 years since Winooski separated from Colchester in 1922, the last occurrence of when Vermont created a City.
Winooski residents of the village of Winooski Falls, Colchester held most of the town’s tax base due to then-thriving mills on the Winooski River. In addition to significant ethnic and religious differences, a majority of Winooski-ites believed they had nothing to lose and everything to gain financially by separating from the more rural part of the town. But a few years later the mills lapsed into decades of failure and finally closed. Mile-square Winooski had no room to grow and attracted little redevelopment interest until federal urban renewal funding began the first of several attempts to revitalize the community, which today remains one of the poorest in Chittenden.
South Burlington was originally part of Burlington. It was incorporated by charter of the State of Vermont as a separate town with the name South Burlington in 1865. SoBu was all farms then and what was then the village of Burlington needed urban services like water and sewage. It’s unclear who left who or if it was mutual. The Town of South Burlington was later incorporated as a city in 1971, becoming the City of South Burlington.
All municipal decisions to merge or separate are subject to approval by the Vermont Legislature, according to the Vermont Constitution.