2011 Vermont Code
Title 24 Appendix Municipal Charters
Chapter 417 WINDHAM SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
§ 34 Budget appropriation and assessment

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TITLE 24A

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APPENDIX

Municipal Charters

PART IV

Solid Waste Districts

CHAPTER 417. WINDHAM SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

Subchapter IV. Fiscal Affairs

§ 417-34. Budget appropriation and assessment

(a) Proposed budget. Annually, on or before December 1, the board of supervisors shall approve and cause to be distributed to the legislative branch of each member municipality for review and comment an annual report of its activities, including a financial statement, and a proposed budget of the district for the next fiscal year. This proposed budget shall include reasonably detailed estimates of:

(1) Deficits or surpluses, or both, from prior fiscal years.

(2) Anticipated expenditures for the administration of the district.

(3) Anticipated expenditures for the operation and maintenance of any district solid waste facilities.

(4) Costs of debt service.

(5) Payments due on long-term contracts.

(6) Payments due to any sinking funds for the retirement of debts.

(7) Payments due to any capital reserve funds.

(8) Anticipated revenues from tipping fees and other sources, not including assessments levied on the member municipalities.

(9) The necessary appropriations to operate and carry out the district's functions for the next fiscal year.

(10) The proposed assessment, if any, to each member municipality.

(11) Such other estimates as the board of supervisors shall deem necessary to propose.

(b) Budget hearing. The board of supervisors shall hold a public hearing on or before December 31 of each year to receive comments from the legislative bodies of member municipalities and hear all other interested persons regarding the proposed budget. Notice of the hearing shall be the same as that specified under section 43 of this chapter, public hearings. The board of supervisors shall give consideration to all comments received and make such changes to the proposed budget as it deems advisable.

(c) Budget adoption, tipping fees, and appropriations. Annually on or before January 15, the board of supervisors shall adopt the budget, appropriate the sums which it deems necessary to operate and carry out the district's functions for the next ensuing fiscal year, set the tipping fee for the next ensuing fiscal year, and assess each member municipality, if necessary, for its proportionate share of the sums so appropriated, and adopt a schedule designating when such assessments, if any, are due and payable by the member municipalities. It is anticipated that the tipping fees will provide an adequate source of revenue for the district and that assessments will be levied only in the case of unanticipated or unusual expenses incurred in the prior fiscal year or major expenses anticipated for the coming year that cannot be funded without a significant increase in the tipping fees.

(d) Apportionment of assessments. In the event it becomes necessary to levy assessments on the member municipalities, the assessments shall be apportioned among the member municipalities on the basis of trash generation (relative to the tonnage or volume of solid waste generated by or within each of the member municipalities), population or other basis voted by the board of supervisors. If, after the first year of operation of any district facility, the board of supervisors determines that prior assessments were substantially inequitable, it shall retroactively adjust prior year assessments such that municipalities overcharged are given a proportionate credit against future assessments and municipalities undercharged are assessed a proportionate surcharge payable over such period as the board of supervisors determines will be reasonable. Thereafter, the board of supervisors may from time to time (but not more often than once every three years) change the basis of the assessment. The

board may adjust the assessments accordingly, but no retroactive adjustments shall be made. Similar estimates and adjustments shall be made for new member municipalities and for the first time use of a new or different disposal facility. In the event of a change in the method of assessment, the board of supervisors shall hold a public hearing on or before the last day of November of each year to receive comments from the legislative bodies of member municipalities and hear all other interested persons regarding the proposed method of assessment. Notice of such hearing shall be the same as that specified under section 43 of chapter 5, public hearings. The board of supervisors shall give consideration to all comments received and make such changes to the proposed method of assessment as it deems advisable.