READSBORO- For the last year, the town has gone back and forth on whether to sell Readsboro Electric. In the last three votes, the public chose to keep it in the town’s hands. On Town Meeting day, voters changed their minds and decided to take the responsibility off the town’s plate.

Article 11 asked “Shall the town of Readsboro vote ... to authorize the sale of the town of Readsboro’s Electric Department assets pursuant to terms and conditions that the selectboard determines are fair and reasonable, and to take all other actions necessary to complete such sale.” A two-thirds majority (or 123 voters) was required to approve the sale and out of 205 eligible voters, 137 voted “yes,” 66 voted “no.” Article 11 passed with a two-thirds majority.

Since the town rejected the selectboard-approved bid, the town is now required to reopen the request for proposal process. “Requests for proposals will go out as soon as possible. The quicker we sell, the quicker we can work on other town issues,” said Eilers.

Article 4 asked “To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate $800,131.60 or any other sum to meet the expenses and liabilities of the town of Readsboro.” Larry Hopkins thought the budget was too high. He suggested the town should include cuts in the selectboard’s contingency fund, postage, professional services, office cleaning, office supplies, office equipment, training, labor costs, and other miscellaneous services. Hopkins said the town could also see an additional $16,700 from the Alpenwald lot sales and the money could be used to offset budget costs. Finally, he suggested the town approve an amended budget of $733,846 and vote on it by paper ballot. “We have to manage our money,” said Hopkins.

The town approved the amended budget by paper ballot, 64-25.

Article 5 asked “To see if the town will raise and appropriate the sum of $10,000 or any other sum for the purpose of correcting and updating the tax maps.” Eilers said the town is seeking a full overhaul of the town’s tax maps because they are outdated and contain many errors. According to town clerk Annette Caruso, the maps are “85% wrong.” Much of the money would be used for software replacement and training from an outside company.

Teddy Hopkins thought the current tax maps were adequate and that the problems could be solved “in-house.” Eilers said the town keeps finding mistakes and it would be appropriate to seek professional assistance. Chris York asked homeowners whether they had any problems relating to the last reappraisal. Very few raised their hands. As a result, York concluded that the tax maps “do not need any upgrading.”

Mike Boisvert voiced his support for Article 5. He said the town is trying to take a step in the right direction. “If you try to read a deed without an actual survey, good luck,” said Boisvert. “If we keep waiting, it’s going to cost us tens of thousands of dollars. You can’t just stand still and hope things get better.” The town approved Article 6, 47-39.

Article 7 asked “Shall the town of Readsboro vote to raise, appropriate, and expend the sum of $60,000 or any other sum for the support of hiring a town manager/administrator to provide services to (town residents).” In 2009, the town voted 54 to 53 to approve a $35,000 salary for a new town manager who would handle the town’s day-to-day operational tasks. The town voted to reconsider the article during last summer’s special Town Meeting, but the article failed, 37-30. The town manager was never hired as the selectboard could not determine how the position would be funded. The planning board petitioned a third vote on the position.

Planning board member Susan Bailey said they increased the salary amount to $60,000 because it was a general salary amount suggested by the state. Hopkins thought the town could get away with paying a part-time administrator $26,000 a year. Bailey insisted it be a full-time position due to the nature of the job. “They spend a lot of time on all kinds of issues. You can’t just run on a paper and pencil scenario,” said Bailey.

Kim Thayer suggested the town add two more selectboard members, but Eilers disagreed. “Nobody’s running against me this year. Where are (the candidates) going to come from?” asked Eilers. “Whitingham and Stamford have a five-person selectboard and they have a clerk. We need help.” David Switz weighed in and said the position is too “excessive” at the present time. Switz, the delinquent tax collector, said times are tough on taxpayers and there were other items on the town warrant that take greater priority.

The article failed by one vote, 41-42.

Article 10 asked “To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $35,000 or any other sum, for the purpose of funding the town reappraisal fund.” Eilers said the town may have to conduct a partial reappraisal because of a high coefficient of dispersion. The COD is a measure of equity that shows how property taxes are distributed within a town. If the COD is above 20%, a second reappraisal is conducted. Eilers said the town’s COD is 29%.

Some residents thought the appraiser, Spencer Potter, of Vermont Municipal Assessors, should be held responsible for the high COD and he should pay for the second reappraisal. Hopkins, on the other hand, thought the money wasn’t necessary. “If we keep throwing money away for a ‘what if’ situation, it is going to hurt us,” said Hopkins.

The article was defeated, 57-27.

Article 18 asked “Shall the town of Readsboro vote to support the acquisition of 660-plus acres on Route 100 and Howe Pond Road from private willing sellers by the United States of America to become part of the Green Mountain National Forest to conserve water quality, wildlife habitat, trails, and public access.”

Alex Sienkiewicz, GMNF district ranger, said the GMNF is interested in purchasing 392 acres of land belonging to Andrew Grimes, of Readsboro, and 268 acres belonging to John Mutrie, of Wellesley, MA. As a matter of policy, the GMNF needs town approval to proceed with the purchase. Sienkiewicz, Kate Wanner, field representative of the Trust for Public Land, and members of the Grimes family were on hand to present their case. Sienkiewicz said that Grimes and Mutrie are interested in selling the land for preservation and recreational purposes. Grimes said the family put the property up for sale because their taxes tripled. They were willing to turn over 392 acres to the GMNF but they also would like to retain 10 acres to build a new home. Some residents were concerned if the town would make any money on the sale. At a December selectboard meeting, a tax analyst estimated that both parcels of land would remove roughly $839,500 listed value from the tax rolls, lose $6,513 in annual taxes, and gain about $2,180 in annual federal payments.

Teddy Hopkins believed the town would take the hit on the sale and suggested that the town negotiate with the GMNF to obtain more money. “This will be a drain on our ability to pay [the town’s] taxes,” said Hopkins. Bruce Busa also expressed reservations because he was against the government using tax dollars to bid against him, when he might be interested in purchasing the land. “I oppose government takeover,” said Busa.

John Whitman approved the sale and he was applauded. Whitman said the town should not have any say on whether a private land owner can sell their land to someone else. He said the law was well intended, but he also believed it turned out to be “bad government,” “an extortion of funds” from landowners, and the law was implemented on the basis that the town will lose future tax revenue. “I think if this were happening to you, you wouldn’t be happy about it,” said Whitman.

Article 18 passed by a voice vote.

The town passed the school budget of $1,334,105. One hundred seventeen voted “yes” and 75 “no.” The budget is a $31,798 increase from last year’s budget of $1,302,307. The estimated tax rate for 2010-2011 is $0.726, which is a $0.0651 increase from the 2009-2010 fiscal year. “We’ve cut down on supplies so we could get it to that number,” said school board chair Charlotte Clark. “I’d say we cut about $30,000. We took out anything that was possible. We thought about cutting hours if we had to.”

Eilers was reelected to a three-year term on the selectboard and Clark was reelected to a three-year term as school director.