Committee hears testimony on H.404 to shift highway authority for Village of Old Bennington

The House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee took remote testimony on H.404, "an act relating to authority over the highways of the Village of Old Bennington," hearing from village representatives who said the town could more efficiently maintain the village's roughly three miles of road and similar length of sidewalks.

The item matters to village residents because village trustees and town officials say the village has struggled for years to generate sufficient highway revenue and to maintain roads while contracting out work. Village testimony described a recent increase in the village road tax rate and a planned nonbinding vote for residents before the select board or the committee takes further steps.

Stewart, a village/town representative who joined the committee remotely, said, "The village has about 3 miles of road, similar amount of sidewalk." He told the panel that the town already performs roadway work near and through the village and that combining maintenance could be more efficient.

Anne, a village representative, described a longer history of underfunding: "For the last 20 years, the village of Old Bennington, has been collecting the taxes ... but, neglected in many circumstances to increase the tax rate as costs went up. So this past year in 2024, our treasurer put together an in-depth discussion of the cost of maintaining the roads in the village of Old Bennington versus the taxes that we were charging for it." She said trustees held information meetings and that the issue has been discussed at trustee meetings since February 2024.

Anne told the committee the village increased its road tax rate in 2024 and scheduled a nonbinding, advisory vote of village residents for April 22; she said the vote was warned in local notices and a postcard was mailed to property owners. She gave a housing count as a rough population indicator: "There are 85, houses, if you will."

Village testimony said the contractor the village used struggled during a snowy, icy winter, and that village officials see advantages to transferring maintenance to the town, which has an in-house highway crew. Stewart said that if tax rates were equal to the town's for the past year, "the village would be generating about close to a hundred and $52,000 in highway revenue," which the village believes would be sufficient to maintain the three miles of road.

Representative Coffee asked for clarification on operational capacity: "I just wanted to be clear that I heard it right, that the village has no highway department as it as it stands right now." Anne replied, "No, sir. We have absolutely no highway department whatsoever." Committee members said they plan to await the result of the village's advisory vote before taking further formal steps and that staff would follow up with town public works staff on equipment and winter maintenance logistics.

No formal committee motion or vote occurred during the testimony. The committee heard the testimony as part of its review of the exempted bill and indicated it would continue to monitor the village's nonbinding vote and coordination between village and town officials before any committee recommendation or action.

Merrill Bent, identified in testimony as the village's attorney, attended earlier informational sessions described by the village representatives, and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) was cited by the village as a source for meeting-timing guidance.