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Municipal leaders back EV fee waiver, flag legal-trails lawsuit during S.123 review
Summary
The Vermont League of Cities and Towns told the House Transportation committee it supports several technical changes in S.123, including waiving an EV infrastructure charge for municipal vehicles and adjusting diesel fuel reimbursement timing, and warned of a Tunbridge court case that could affect more than 500 miles of legal trails on town maps.
Montpelier — The Vermont League of Cities and Towns told the House Committee on Transportation on April 29 it does not object to several technical changes in S.123 and urged lawmakers to consider a pending court case about legal trails that municipal officials say could affect hundreds of miles of mapped public rights‑of‑way.
Josh Hanford, director of intergovernmental relations at the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, told the committee the league "would certainly welcome" a waiver of the electric‑vehicle infrastructure charge for municipal vehicles (Section 6 of S.123) and supported changing the reimbursement window for dyed diesel fuel to 12 months (Section 25). "We’re not objecting to any of the language you have in there," Hanford said, calling the changes largely technical and potentially helpful to municipal budgeting and fleet electrification.
Hanford also discussed an ATV definition update in the bill that would change the allowable wheelbase or width. He said municipalities already use a model ATV ordinance that they would update to reflect any statutory change, and observed that some ATV stakeholders told him a wider wheelbase "has less damage on trails from their perspective."
Hanford devoted substantial testimony to a separate matter that has surfaced outside S.123: a Tunbridge court case he said threatens the legal status of about 500 miles of mapped legal trails. "This court case may remove that, essentially making the trail sort of use obsolete," he said, and he urged the committee to expect further briefings. He said about 98 municipalities have legal trails on town highway maps and that the legal question centers on whether municipalities have implied authority to perform maintenance on legal trails they designated for public use.
Committee members said they plan to receive a legal brief from committee counsel before further action and that they expect additional testimony on the trails issue. Hanford said municipalities prefer budget certainty and generally favor administrative changes that clarify municipal authority and reduce long‑term fiscal risk.
No votes were taken on the sections discussed during Hanford's testimony. Hanford said VLCT staff remain available for follow‑up and that the league will continue to participate in related committee briefings.
