Pomfret voters will decide on issues including non-resident eligibility for public office, a local option tax, and funding for a new town administrator at this year’s annual Town Meeting.
Pomfret’s 2026 annual Town Meeting voting will take place at the Pomfret Town Offices, 5218 Pomfret Road, on Tuesday, Mar. 3, between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. All articles of business will be decided by Australian ballot.
Residents will have an opportunity to discuss the articles to be voted upon at an informational hearing at the Pomfret Town Hall, 5233 Pomfret Road, and via Zoom, on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 9 a.m.
Article 1 calls for votes on the following offices, all of which are currently uncontested races: town moderator (1-year term), town clerk (1 year), selectboard member (3 years), selectboard member (2 years), treasurer (1 year), cemetery commissioner (3 years), lister (3 years), lister (2 years to finish a 3-year term), auditor (3 years), auditor (2 years to finish a 3-year term), auditor (1 year to finish a 3-year term), library trustee (3 years), library trustee (3 years), library trustee (2 years to finish a 3-year term), and trustee of public funds (3 years).
Article 2 proposes non-resident eligibility for appointment or election to particular local offices.
Current selectboard chair Benjamin Brickner — who is running again for a seat on the selectboard — told the Standard, “We have several positions where no one is willing to serve. Currently, they have to be filled by Pomfret residents, but state law allows us to expand eligibility to any Vermont resident. This article gives voters that option.”
Article 4 proposes a combined budget for FY27 of $2,147,772. This represents an 11.2% increase in the total budget over FY26. Of the FY27 amounts, $1,505,180 will be raised by taxes, and $642,592 by other sources. As noted in the Town Meeting warning, the proposed amount for FY27 does not include the appropriations proposed in Articles 6 through 17.
The general budget also proposes funding for a town administrator, in the amount of $59,500.
Article 5 proposes a 1% local option tax on certain goods and services, with the goal of reducing property taxes.
Articles 6-17 propose appropriations to town entities and social service organizations such as the Abbott Memorial Library, the Pomfret Cemetery Commission, the Spectrum Teen Center, and Pentangle Arts. If approved, these articles would increase current-year taxes above the amount approved in Article 4.
Article 17 asks voters to “re-appropriate $66,998 of the unassigned general fund balance to reduce Fiscal Year 2027 taxes to be raised.” Brickner explained that this proposal asks voters to use prior years’ budget surpluses to “buy down the [property] tax rate.”
For more on this, please see our Feb. 12 edition of the Vermont Standard.
