"Winter" to premiere at the Savoy March 15 featuring Sarah Burke

Here's a trailer for the Ski Channel film "Winter" featuring Sarah Burke who passed away in January after a sky accident in Utah. The premiere will be at the Savoy on March 15. Burke was instrumental in getting superpipe skiing in the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Montpelier Public School fiscal year 2013 budget available here

If you're curious about what's in the Montpelier Public School's $15.7 million fiscal year 2013 budget, you can download it here.

A Q&A with John Hollar at the Savoy

MONTPELIER — Tonight, Montpelier's next mayor John Hollar met with constituents downstairs at the Savoy theater to answer questions about what he will do when he becomes mayor on March 7.

He talked to the crowd of about 30 people about local option taxes, the district energy project, economic development and fixing the city's sagging infrastructure. 

Hollar said that he does not support the local option taxes voters will be considering on next Tuesday's ballot.

As mayor, he said, he will work to encourage businesses to setup shop in Montpelier, and that a local sales tax would be a hindrance to that effort.

"I think it's absolutely critical that people feel they can invest their money" in Montpelier, Hollar said.

Rather than setting up a new tax revenue stream to pay for infrastructure improvements, Hollar said, the city ought to be able to pay its bills with the current property tax revenue.

He said the issue for the city is setting budget priorities.

But when asked which budget items he would cut or reduce spending to pay to fix the city's crumbling roads and sidewalks, Hollar didn't offer any specifics.

"I would start by reading the Matrix report," he said referring to a report commissioned by the City Council to evaluate all city departments and services.

Hollar said that the report shows that in virtually every department there are efficiencies to be had.

If however, the voters approve the local option tax ballots items, Hollar said he wouldn't lobby the state legislature to deny the charter change, as is required by state law.

Hollar is also concerned about the district energy project.

While he said he supports the idea of creating a distributed biomass thermal energy heat system, he's not sure the current project will work.

Last week, the city's contractor issued a report showing that the distribution system of underground pipes — the component the city would have to build — is going to cost $937,000 more than the $4 million the city thought it would.

But Hollar hasn't ruled the project dead yet. He said that if it can work, he will work with the City Council and city staff to make it happen.

Bo wants to make a documentary

MONTPELIER — Bo Muller-Moore, the Eat More Kale guy, has a Kickstarter.com pledge campaign to raise $75,000 so he can make a documentary about his battle with Chick-fil-A.

The chicken sandwich company is demanding that he "forever cease and desist" printing his "Eat More Kale" t-shirts and stickers. According to Chick-fil-A, "Eat More Kale" t-shirts are infringing on their "Eat Mor Chikin" slogan.

Chick-fil-A lawyers, Muller-Moore said, "want to confiscate my website, my t-shirt biz and art."

But is he going to cease and desist?

"Like hell," he writes on his Kickstarter.com page. "I've decided to fight.

"Of course, I might not win — the odds are against me. All over the country 'trademark bullies,' large corporations that bully small businesses over alleged claims of trademark infringement, are legally harassing small businesses and wearing them down with repeated lawsuits and appeals. In the face of overwhelming legal bills, most small businesses just give up."

Obviously, his documentary, if created, will be titled "A Defiant Dude."

As of Feb. 27, so far Muller-Moore has raised $11,835 from 238 backers. He has until March 25 to raise the rest of the $75,000.

To learn more about the documentary, visit Muller-Moore's Kickstarter.com page here.

I've wrote about this fight with Chick-fil-A back in December here.

Montpelier annual report available here

Download the 2012 Montpelier Annual Report here.

Mayoral candidate John Hollar at the Savoy Tuesday

MONTPELIER — John Hollar, the uncontested candidate in the race to be Montpelier's next mayor, has invited voters to the Savoy Theater Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. for a question and answer session.

District energy project comes in $937,000 over budget

MONTPELIER — On Friday, in his weekly report City Manager William Fraser said the district energy project is $900,000 over budget.

According to the city’s design engineer contractor, Hallam-ICS, the cost for the distribution system of underground pipes, not including the state heat plant, will cost $4,938,710, or $937,000 more than what the city has allocated for construction costs.

Fraser said that the city has a few options to fix the problem.

The city could secure another $900,000 of funding through a grant, or private investor, or by reallocating the cost sharing with capacity adjustment with the state.

The city could also get commitments from additional district energy users, which cover the $900,000 in financing.

A third option is to eliminate one or both of the schools from the project and get commitments from private users instead. The high school and the elementary school are part of the original project design.

Those last two options would require that the City Council relax its restriction that city officials not move forward with the project unless it is viable on its own without any private buildings owners tapping in.

The final option, Fraser said, would be to pull the plug on the entire district energy project due to lack of funds.

The City Council is expected to discuss the district energy project at the March 14 meeting. 

That will be the first meeting for the new mayor John Hollar assuming he doesn’t lose to a write-in candidate on March 6.

Read the rest of this story online in the Times Argus

Analysis: Local option taxes are about who pays

MONTPELIER — The debate over whether Montpelier should implement a local option tax on rooms, meals, alcohol and retail sales can be boiled down to one simple question.

Should the city continue to fund its budget almost exclusively with property tax revenue, in which increases largely hit the wallets of city residents, or should businesses and residents of neighboring communities be asked to contribute more money to help pay for city services?

Set aside all of the claims that a local sales tax will destroy Montpelier’s downtown by driving customers and businesses away.

While fear is a strong motivational tool, there’s no empirical, or even anecdotal, evidence to suggest that this will actually happen.

Thousands of communities across the country have implemented local option taxes, and there’s been no example presented of any town having been destroyed by doing so.

The decision to implement these proposed local option taxes is about whether it makes good policy for Montpelier to do so.

Proponents of the local option taxes argue that asking businesses, out-of-town workers, tourists and neighboring communities to contribute is fair.

According to data presented by City Manager William Fraser, since 1985 the portion of the municipal budget paid for with residential property taxes has gone from 54 percent to 66 percent.

And the portion of the budget paid for by the business community has gone from 31 percent to 25 percent.

The reason for this shift is largely attributed to the fact that residential real estate has gone up in value faster than commercial real estate.

The argument is that a local sales tax — which would apply to all taxable goods that city businesses purchase, such as bags, cups, heating oil and light bulbs — would help take the pressure off residential property tax payers and put it on business owners.

Business owners argue that this is going to hit their bottom line and that they won’t simply be able to pass this expense on to their customers.

The 1 percent additional sales tax on customer purchases will be paid by the customer, just as the current state tax of 6 percent is. It’s the added expense for supplies and equipment that has business owners most upset.

If the point of implementing a local option tax is to shift some of the municipal tax burden away from residents onto the business community, doing so will undoubtedly cost businesses money. 

But if the city continues to rely on property taxes for its funding, the burden of the municipal budget likely will continue to hit the pocketbooks of homeowners much harder than owners of commercial real estate and businesses.

And what about people from neighboring towns? Should they be asked to pay something toward keeping Montpelier running?

Some argue that they shouldn’t, that it’s unfair to ask people in places like East Montpelier, Middlesex, Calais, Plainfield and Cabot to help pay for the services Montpelier offers. Obviously, supporters of the new taxes think those users of downtown Montpelier should contribute.

Opponents also argue that sales taxes are regressive and will therefore harm the poor more than anyone else.

It’s hard to make the case that a 1 percent consumption tax in Montpelier would unduly harm the poor.

For starters, food and clothing are exempt from any sales tax in Vermont, including a local sales tax.

And now consider how much a 1 percent local option tax would cost a shopper annually.

If someone were to make $10,000 of taxable purchases in Montpelier in one year, an average of $192 a week, it would cost that consumer $100 in additional sales tax annually.

Anybody spending that much money in downtown Montpelier likely isn’t poor.

But now consider an increase in property taxes, which affects everyone in Montpelier who owns a home or pays rent. 

Some folks argue that renters don’t pay property taxes. That’s not true.

Landlords factor property taxes, as well as other expenses associated with maintaining the property, into the rent.

So consider what happens if property taxes increase by $100 every year. In 10 years, that’s an additional $1,000 in property taxes. That money comes out of every homeowner’s pocket and is added to rent by landlords.

If the new tax revenue really does offset increases in property taxes, for Montpelier residents, who will also be paying the sales tax, it will likely be a wash. The city estimates that the local option taxes will save about $100 on the average property tax bill.

So when voters go to the polls March 6 to decide on this, it’s ultimately a question about who should be paying, and how much, for city services.

There really is no wrong answer.

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This story ran in the Times Argus on Feb. 25. 
http://www.timesargus.com/article/20120225/NEWS01/702259933

Weekend forecast: Snow?

MONTPELIER — Metereologists are predicting that the Capital City could get between 6 and 10 inches of snow today and tomorrow.

The snow is expected to start falling after 1 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Burlington. Daytime accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. Today's high near 36 degrees.

Snowfall is expected to continue through the night with another 3 to 7 inches possible and a low temperature around 29 degrees.

Saturday, look for more snow showers, 1 to 3 inches possible with a high near 34.

There's a 30 percent chance of more snow Saturday night before 10 p.m. with a low around 6 degrees and a wind chill as low as -10.

Sunday is expected to be chilly with a high of 23 and a low of 5.

Charlotte Hoyt retiring after 39 years with the city

MONTPELIER — Whoever wins the March election for city clerk had better get used to being called Charlotte. 

Loretta Bresette, an administrative assistant, has worked with retiring City Clerk and Treasurer Charlotte Hoyt for 27 years. Bresette says she’s likely to call the new city clerk Charlotte for a while just out of habit.

The name might as well be a synonym for “dedicated, organized and professional,” based on what Hoyt’s colleagues and co-workers say about the woman who has served 21 years in her current post and 39 as a city employee.

City Manager William Fraser said, “I don’t know if you can explain how hard she works.”

Read the rest of this story online in the Times Argus