A tax hike for Barnard residents is being discussed to help pay for the final infrastructure projects leftover from the July 2023 floods. The proposed tax increase is intended to pay for the nearly $2 million in projects.
Selectboard vice chair Richard Lancaster told the Standard that the remaining projects that need addressing are a bridge and a bank slide on Chateauguay Road, and another bank slide on Mt. Hunger Road. The selectboard’s rough cost estimate of $2 million includes engineering and repair costs.
At its Aug. 20 meeting, the board voted to advertise a request-for-proposals from engineering firms to take on the leftover projects. The board also voted to request an extension from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the projects’ completion in the hope that the projects will receive reimbursement from the federal agency.
But according to Lancaster, if FEMA does grant an extension on the timeline of the projects, Barnard will still have to foot the bill in the meantime. One option for paying for that bill is through a matching rise in taxes. “Basically, [we would] have to go to the town next spring and say, ‘Folks, we’re going to raise taxes considerably in order to pay for these projects, with the understanding that we will get a reimbursement from FEMA when it’s all done,’” Lancaster told the Standard.
FEMA reimbursement would likely be received by Barnard between eight and ten months after the completion of both projects — well after the March Town Meeting vote on the budget for the 2026 fiscal year.
As an alternative to raising taxes, the selectboard is also considering a state grant to support the projects, Lancaster said. While state grants would extend the project timeline for Mt. Hunger Road and Chateauguay Road by two years, Lancaster says they could also mitigate the costs of the project and the need to raise taxes. State support would also be valuable in the case that FEMA decides against reimbursing Barnard, which would most likely be because of a delay in construction, Lancaster said.
Discussion on how to fund the remaining projects will continue at upcoming selectboard meetings.
For more on this, please see our August 28 edition of the Vermont Standard.
