BRANDON, Vt.–Close to 100 Brandon residents gathered at Brandon Town Hall on Monday, March 2 for the annual Town Meeting on a chilly evening showing no signs of spring, as the front steps to the Town Hall were still roped off for winter safety concerns. Selectboard members Doug Bailey, Cecil Reniche-Smith, Jeff Haylon, and Ralph Ethier were present; along with Town Manager, Seth Hopkins; Deputy Town Manager and Recreational Director Bill Moore; and Town Clerk, Sue Gage. Moore served as moderator.
After local Boy Scouts kicked off the evening by bringing forward the American and Vermont flags and leading the group in the “Pledge of Allegiance,” Haylon read the dedication of The Town Report to Steven Jupiter, who was thanked for devoting the past three years to keeping the community well-informed by putting out the high-quality Brandon Reporter until it ceased operations last October. In his short thank-you, Jupiter emphasized that many others were involved in the team effort and particularly acknowledged George Fjeld’s contributions.
The Year in Review
Bailey gave an overview of the past year in his opening remarks. He reported that a big focus of the Selectboard’s work has been on returning the Police Department to full staffing after a “mass exodus” of Brandon’s officers. In the meantime, the town has been contracting with the Vermont State Police to cover nights and the Rutland Sheriff’s Department to do traffic patrols.
In the past Brandon has hired new officers and paid for academy training, only to see them leave after a short tenure. This year the Town has shifted its strategy, hiring more experienced officers who do not require academy training. Recent hires, Officer Mikayla Cochrane and Lieutenant Paul Samataro, both of whom bring training and significant experience to the job, have joined existing Officer Ethan Kelleher. A final hire is in process. If completed as expected, this will bring the department basically back to full strength, with only one more part-time officer to be hired.
The Highway Department, still operating with a four-person crew, was commended for its strong performance this winter despite the challenges brought on by a regional salt shortage.
Bailey also highlighted the work of the town management team. Deputy Town Manager and Recreation Director Bill Moore has taken over programming at the Town Hall and accomplished the installation of new water fountains at the children’s playground and dog park at West Seminary Park, keeping down costs by working with a group of YouthWorks volunteers.
Town Manager Seth Hopkins recently conducted the first tax sales of properties since the COVID pandemic. Of the 75 initially identified as seriously in arrears, only four proceeded to tax sale. Payment plans were set up for the rest of the properties, and if any of those fall through they will move to tax sale.
Bailey thanked all of the volunteers who work on town committees.
Reniche-Smith recognized Sue Gage for earning the status of Certified Vermont Clerk and Treasurer, which she has been working toward over the past few years alongside her regular job.
The 2026-27 Budget
Reniche-Smith presented the proposed 2026-27 budget. She explained that the town was unable to have an official budget advisory board as it did last year, as by state law now such a committee must now be formally established by public vote. Residents were, however, invited to attend budget meetings and provide input. Jan Coolidge, Barry Varian, Brent Bueller, and Tricia Welch were recognized and thanked for attending every one of those meetings and offering valuable input.
The Selectboard emphasized that the budget was built to preserve livability and sustainability—that is, keeping costs down as much as possible without cutting essential services or “kicking any cans down the road.” The total budget only increased over last year’s budget by approximately $13,000. Most expenses stayed essentially the same, and the increase was primarily due to increases in health insurance costs for town employees. Although premiums only went up 2% this year, changes made by employees at open enrollment caused further increases.
Brandon’s local option tax continues to be a strong and growing revenue source, now generating over $300,000 annually. This local tax, which has brought in a total of more than $202 million, has grown consistently and significantly over the 10 years it has been in place. Although the Board was initially cautious to rely on it in budgeting, it is now seeing the funds as a fairly reliable revenue stream for long-term capital needs. Brandon was ahead of the curve in initiating this local tax, with many other Vermont towns just this year trying to put such a tax in place.
The local option tax allowed the town to pay off the Swifty Culvert/Stone Arch Bridge bond (saving $60,000), and also made possible the removal of the $50,000 capital appropriation from last year’s budget. Reniche-Smith reminded everyone that the strategy of paying down any tax increase via the reserve fund might be attractive for a single year, but incurs financial pain the following year, which is what the town saw in the turmoil of the 2024 budget which initially failed. Other cost-saving measures included eliminating a part-time position in the Assessor’s office, which saved $10,000.
The result is a modest one-half of 1% increase to the town portion of property taxes for 2026-27. For an average Brandon home assessed at $186,000, that equates to an increase of $8.19 per year, or approximately 68 cents per month. All were reminded of the property tax estimator tool available on the town’s new website (brandonvermont.gov), which can be used to determine the actual amount of increase for households.
All appropriations on this year’s ballot remained unchanged from last year, meaning those items did not contribute to any additional tax increase.
A breakdown of town expenditures showed the areas of greatest spending were the Police at 33% and the Highway Department at 27%, with Administration following at 15%. It was noted that Recreation as well as Economic Development, which are both strong economic drivers, only constituted 5% and 2%, respectively.
The town’s reserve fund, or “rainy-day fund,” currently stands at approximately $750,000. This places Brandon comfortably within the recommended range of 15%-30% of annual operating expenditures and provides stability in the event of emergencies such as flood damage.
Advisory Budget Committee
Under Article 2, voters approved the formation of a formal Budget Advisory Committee, as is now required by state law. The committee will consist of no more than five members.
Under Article 3, after discussion, voters agreed that the committee’s members will be appointed by the Selectboard. The Board will publicly announce the opportunity and conduct interviews before making appointments. Voters will have the option to revisit and revise this process in the future if they feel it is not working well.
Before adjourning, a thank you was given to Elaine Smith, who is retiring from the town office next month after 37 years. Appreciation was also expressed for Assistant Town Clerk/Treasurer Luanne Merkert, who will be retiring at the end of year with over 20 years of service.
The meeting then adjourned shortly after 8:30 p.m., and was notable for its optimistic tone. Bailey, who has been on the Board multiple times over the years, said that he has never felt better about the future of the town than he does now.
Town Meeting Results
Article #1 Election of Officers:
Bill Moore re-elected Moderator by write-in ballots
Brian Coolidge re-elected to 3-year term on Selectboard
Cecil Reniche-Smith and Jeff Haylon re-elected to 1-year terms on the Selectboard
Susan Gage re-elected Town Clerk & Town Treasurer for 3-year terms
Faith Daya elected as Trustee of Public Funds for 3-year term
Devon Fuller elected as Trustee of Public Funds for 2-year term by write-in ballots
Tracy Wyman elected as Trustee of Public Funds for 1-year term by write-in ballots
Article #2 Town Budget passed 528 - 251
All Articles #3 through #14 passed.
Get the ballot result report here.
Otter Valley Unified Union School District’s $28.8 million budget, which reflects a 2.9% increase over FY26, failed 868-700 on Tuesday.
The budget represents an education spending of $14,257 per LTWADM, which is a 5.5% increase over FY26.
The Barstow Unified Union School District’s $6.63 million budget was approved 259-180.
The budget reflects a 6.2% increase over FY26 and an education spending per LTWADM of $14,811—a 4.1% increase.
There were no contested races for the Barstow Unified Union School Board or the Otter Valley Unified Union School Board.
OVUU results from The Rutland Herald, and Rutland Northeast SU.
