Vermont § 42 - Town Manager’s proposed budget timetable and preparation

§ 42. Town Manager’s proposed budget timetable and preparation

• (a) Submission of timetable. At least five months before the scheduled date of Town meeting, the Town Manager shall
  prepare and present to the Selectboard and Budget Advisory Committee a proposed timetable
  that shall project the progress of events leading to the adoption of the Town budget. (b) Statement by the Selectboard regarding budget policy. Upon receipt of the Town Manager’s timetable, the Selectboard shall issue an annual
  budget policy statement, outlining the direction the Town Manager shall take in the
  drafting or assembly of the budget document. (c) Departmental submissions. In following the timetable submitted to the Selectboard, all department heads, and
  elected or appointed officials with budget responsibility, shall submit budget requests
  to the Town Manager in the format established by the Town Manager. (d) Drafting of annual budget. (1) Unified administrative request. The Town Manager shall, after consultation with department heads, submit to the Selectboard
  and the Budget Advisory Committee a single budget request from the administration
  for all departments. (2) Budget message. The Town Manager’s proposed budget shall be introduced by a budget message that shall
  explain the budget in both fiscal terms and in terms of work programs. It shall outline
  the budget of the Town for the coming year, describe important features of the budget,
  indicate any major changes from the current year in terms of revenues and expenditures,
  indicating the reasons for any changes. The message shall summarize the Town’s debt
  position, include a profile of the capital expenditure program for the year, and also
  include any other material that the Town Manager deems appropriate. (3) Budget; contents and format. (A) The budget shall provide a complete financial plan for all Town funded activities
  for the ensuing fiscal year, and except as required by law, or charter, shall be in
  a form the Town Manager deems appropriate or the Selectboard may prescribe. (B) The Town Manager shall organize the budget by utilizing the most feasible combination
  of expenditure classifications by fund, organizational units, work programs, purposes,
  actions, and objects. (C) The budget shall begin with a clear, general summary of its contents and shall show
  all expected revenue and all proposed expenditures. (D) The budget should be arranged so as to show comparative figures for actual and budgeted
  revenues and expenditures for the preceding year, and for the year covered by the
  budget. (E) The budget shall include: (i) proposed expenditures for operations during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed by offices,
  departments, and agencies, detailed in terms of respective work programs, and the
  method of financing such expenditures; (ii) amount required to meet the interest on maturing bonds, notes, or other outstanding
  indebtedness; (iii) proposed capital expenditures during the ensuing fiscal year detailed, wherever practical,
  by office, department, or agency, along with the method of financing; (iv) proposed estimated revenues to be raised from each source to be collected, levied,
  or raised by taxation to defray the expenses of the Town. (e) Subsidiary budgets for utilities. (1) For each utility or enterprise owned and operated by the Town, a subsidiary budget
  shall be drafted in accordance with these guidelines, with the process of review and
  approval to be dictated by the Selectboard. (2) Cross subsidy in areas other than fund management between Town government operations
  and utility operations shall be limited to services and support provided as approved
  by the Selectboard. (Amended 2021, No. M-13 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 16, 2022; 2023, No. M-2, § 2, eff. May 4, 2023.)