Ward 2 NPA

Meeting Agenda Ward 2 Neighborhood Planning Assembly (NPA) Feb. 12, 2026 | 6:30-8:30pm | All are welcome Join in person: O.N.E. Community Dinner ONE Community Center, 20 Allen Street ❤️ 5:30-6:30pm | Free | Donations welcome ONE Menu: Roasted squash polenta with balsamic Join remotely: roasted beets & beans, citrus slaw with pears, herb https://zoom.us/j/93179389982 biscuits, and chocolate cake. Music: Brian Perkins & Friends ​ Facilitator: Marc Stannard​ ​ Notetaker: Kason Hudman 6:30 pm Introduction 5 min Review and adopt/approve the agenda and previous minutes; introductions as time allows. 6:35 pm Public Forum (2 minutes max per person) 10 min Please state your full name, pronouns, street, and ward, and follow the NPA ground rules. 6:45 pm Ballot Question overview 75 min Representatives from City departments, including Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak and Councilor Grant Learn more about the questions that will be on your ballot, why they are there, and what it means for you. 8:00 pm Burlington School District 25 min Polly Vanderputten - Ward 2 School Commissioner Gene Bergman - Ward 2 City Councilor Hear from the currently serving candidates running for re-election in Ward 2. 8:25 pm Door prize drawing + Adjourn! Our next meeting is Thursday, March 12! Scan the QR code (or click here) to: Email us • Go to our website • Watch meeting recordings on CCTV's website • Connect with us on Instagram • Request a time slot with the request form • Get to all links related to this meeting ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - February 12, 2026 - Agenda - Page 1 Page 1 of 21 Appendix to the Agenda Ward 2 NPA Steering Committee To contact the entire Ward 2 NPA Steering Committee, email ward2npa@googlegroups.com Name Email Joined Term expiration Lauren Ebersol lebersol27@gmail.com 2023 2027 Kason Hudson kasonhudman@gmail.com 2024 2028 Charlie Giannoni charliecpg@gmail.com 2024 2028 Marc Stannard Marc.Stannard@outlook.com 2024 2028 Nora Aronds noraaronds@yahoo.com 2025 2029 Grace Sherwood Gsherwood703@gmail.com 2025 2029 NPA Guiding Principles ●​ Operate through democratic principles and democratic procedures. ●​ Provide a safe and welcoming forum where residents can actively share their voices about issues that matter to them, and where they can learn from the voices of others. ●​ Cultivate involvement by a diverse spectrum of community members through active outreach and through eliminating barriers to participation. ●​ Operate in a manner that models respectful, inclusive, culturally, and economically aware practices. ●​ Be a fun, creative, and vital organization that provides value and benefit through the multitude of perspectives shared by those who participate. Ward 2 NPA Ground Rules ●​ Meetings should have clearly defined agenda and roles. ●​ Honor time limits: A best effort must be made to start on time, follow the agenda, and finish on time. ●​ Listen to others: Make efforts to be an open-minded member of the group. ●​ Respect the agenda and the process: Try to remain focused on the issue at hand. ●​ Share your opinion respectfully: Speak out, but not over, others’ comments. ●​ Treat people how you would like to be treated: Be respectful of everyone, including guests. ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - February 12, 2026 - Agenda - Page 2 Page 2 of 21 Elected officials representing Ward 2 Mayor Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak Progressive mayor@BurlingtonVT.gov City Councilors Central District (Wards 2 & 3) Melo Grant Progressive megrant@burlingtonvt.gov 802-310-0962 Ward 2 Gene Bergman Progressive gbergman@burlingtonvt.gov 802-598-3602 School Board Members Central District (Wards 2 & 3) Jean Waltz jwaltz@bsdvt.org 802-355-7856 Ward 2 Polly Vanderputten pvanderputten@bsdvt.org 802-578-8653 Vermont State House Representatives Chittenden-15 Troy Headrick Independent theadrick@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-15 Brian Cina Progressive/Democrat bcina@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-16 Kate Logan Progressive/Democrat klogan@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-16 Jill Krowinski Democrat jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-17 Abigail Duke Democrat aduke@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Vermont State Senators Chittenden-Central Tanya Vyhovsky Progressive/Democrat tvyhovsky@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-Central Martine Gulick Democrat mgulick@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-Central Philip Baruth Democrat/Progressive pbaruth@leg.state.vt.us (802) 503-5266 ​ ​ Ward 2 NPA - February 12, 2026 - Agenda - Page 3 Page 3 of 21  REIB CHARTER CHANGE OFFICE OF RACIAL EQUITY, INCLUSION, & BELONGING (REIB) January 15, 2026 REIB CHARTER CHANGE MARCH 3, 3026 BALLOT Page 4 of 21  REIB Charter Change January 15, 2026 REIB Charter Change: What Voters Are Being Asked to Decide •On March 3, Burlington voters will decide whether to add the Office of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (REIB) to the City Charter •The City Charter defines which parts of City government are permanent •This change would make the REIB a stable, ongoing part of City government. •Placing the REIB in the Charter helps ensure this work continues consistently over time, regardless of changes in leadership. NPA MEETINGS: REIB CHARTER CHANGE Page 5 of 21 Page 6 of 21  REIB Charter Change REIB Charter Change: What the REIB Does and Why it Matters for Burlington What the REIB Does in Burlington Why This Matters for Burlington •Supports city departments in the • Helps the City and community respond to development, implementation, and diverse and community-identified needs coordination for programs and services to ensure consistency and accessibility • Supports a strong local economy and community resilience. •Provides training and guidance for City staff, boards, and commissions • Brings diverse perspectives into City decision-making and builds trust. •Creates ways for community members to engage directly with City government NPA MEETINGS: REIB CHARTER CHANGE Page 7 of 21  REIB Charter Change REIB Charter Change: Budget Clarity Budget clarity: • The REIB already exists • It represents about 0.7% of the City’s General Fund • At its highest funding level, it has never exceeded 1% of the General Fund NPA MEETINGS: REIB CHARTER CHANGE Page 8 of 21  FY27 General Fund Budget & Police and Fire Tax Rate Increase NPA Presentation January-February 2026 Page 9 of 21  FY27 Budget: Big Picture • Estimated $10-12M budget gap at this time - Approx. 10% of City's $107M budget • Current FY27 general fund personnel estimate is $78.5M (increase of 7.5%) • This is in line with expectations - Still includes estimates for health insurance & worker’s comp based on timing of the current fiscal year and self-insured nature of our insurance plan Page 10 of 21  FY27 Budget: Personnel • Started with FY26 personnel budget of $73M - Departments recently provided updated information • New police and fire union contract provisions unanimously supported by City Council and Mayor: - Add 2 new firefighters per BFFA contract FY27 - Cost of living adjustments of 7% (fire) and 4.75% (police). In line with regional salaries for first responders. - AFSCME negotiations start in February for FY27 so used a conservative figures for salary/benefits - Non-union – used AFSCME estimate as is our recent practice Page 11 of 21  FY27 Budget: Personnel • Add required annual step increases for all eligible employees • Increase employer healthcare costs by 10% - Based on initial estimate and subject to change based on current usage • Increase employer retirement costs by 5% - Initial estimate • Increase worker’s compensation insurance costs by 5% - Initial estimate Page 12 of 21  FY27 Budget: Operating • Add 3% for inflation on most other non-personnel operating costs • Added money to have cash available to purchase 9 new vehicles on the urgent/dire need list: 6 are for Police & Fire, remaining are for Parks - Since 2013, City has constrained replacement of vehicles and equipment for budget reasons - In 2020, fleet committee estimated City needs $2.7M/year for sustainable replacement of fleet - City has not yet been able to find sustainable fleet money in budget - Situation is no longer sustainable for first responders Page 13 of 21  Why Ongoing Structural Budget Gap? • Grand List is foundation of our revenue: property taxes. • Property taxes represent approximately half of City’s General Fund revenue - Other revenue comes from grants, other types of taxes (ex: gross receipts), and fees. • Our Grand List grows at a lower rate than our operating costs. • Average annual grand list growth of 1.05% since 2016 • Note: In FY27, we no longer collect $1M of business personal property tax revenue, and there is no replacement source of revenue. Page 14 of 21  Why Ongoing Structural Budget Gap? • The City has overly relied on one-time funds. We are changing this practice and removing historically unachievable revenues from our budget. • FY26 Included $1.2M of ARPA funding for police and fire salaries that is no longer available. • FY26 included $650k of one-time increased collection of delinquent property taxes and gross receipts – removing for further discussion. • Some revenues overbudgeted in recent years, and budget not met – revising downward to make realistic creates an additional expected gap of $1.3M Page 15 of 21  Why Ongoing Structural Budget Gap? • The City has grown the size of our workforce, services and programming over the past decade. • The City added 98 FTEs positions with salaries funded by the General Fund between FY14 – FY24. - This is an ongoing operational expense we added with one-time revenue sources in many cases. Page 16 of 21  Balanced Budget: 3-Part Approach • A gap of $10-12M in City budget of $107M is approximately 10% and will require a balanced, three-part approach: – Raise Revenue – Rightsize Government – Realize Strategic Opportunities Page 17 of 21  Raise Revenue: Raise Police & Fire Tax • One option to raise revenue is $0.05 increase to police & fire tax • Would raise about $3M toward projected gap • Overall expected increase to FY27 compensation and benefits for police & fire is $3.05M - Excluding retirement, which is covered by dedicated tax • Current police & fire tax projected to raise $6.4M this year - In contrast, budgets for those departments are $39.1M - Police & fire tax only raises 16% of costs for the services • Bipartisan City Council vote (9-3) to place tax rate increase on TMD March ballot Page 18 of 21  Municipal Tax Effect Note: $353K is current median assessed value for home or condo in Burlington​ Fiscal Muni Tax Rate Total Muni Tax on $ Increase % Increase Year $353K Property FY22 $.6704 $2,367 FY23 $.7085 $2,501 $134 5.7% FY24 $.7523 $2,655 $154 6.2% FY25 $.8326 $2,939 $284 10.7% FY26 $.8556 $3,020 $81 2.8% FY27 $.9363 * $3,305 $285 9.4% * Proposed rate for FY27 including $.05 police and tax increase + other increases required by Charter.​ Page 19 of 21  Preliminary Early Balanced Solution Category Solution Amount Notes Raise Revenue Increase Police & Fire Property Tax $ 3M Council approved question to be placed $.05 on Town Meeting Day ballot. Raise Revenue Utilize One-Time Revenues $ 2M Exploring use of dedicated tax balances from many years previous in appropriate, budget-relieving ways. Raise Revenue Enhance Collections $ 1M Examples include parking tickets, ambulance fees and building permits. Refine amount. Rightsize Reduce Government Expenses 5-= $ 3M Department Heads made Government 10% recommendations for further discussion. Rightsize Create Voluntary Furlough Program $ 0.2M HR moving forward to create voluntary Government program. Realize Strategic Sale of City Property $ 1M Vacant properties or used for parking. Opportunities Would create one-time money and add to ongoing property tax revenue. Total $ 10.2M Numbers are preliminary, and this is just an initial look at one way we could choose to structure the solution. Page 20 of 21  Summary • $10-12M current gap • Will utilize a three-part approach to handle – raising revenue, rightsizing government, and realizing strategic opportunities • $0.05 increase to police and fire tax will raise $3M, which pays for increases City is obligated to contract to pay to those employees • Vote happens on Town Meeting Day, March 3 • Each department will present budget to Board of Finance in early April • Budget drafted by Mayor and must be approved by June 30 by City Council Page 21 of 21