A new map
Quiet on the set
Secretary of Education unveils big plan to make bigger school districts
Documentary explores noise pollution, from jets to village downtowns
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January 30, 2025
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Weekly news coverage for Charlotte and Hinesburg
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School budget stems tax hike but cuts staff and services
Sibling rivalry
BRIANA BRADY STAFF WRITER
the Laster development project off Mechanicsville Road. In response to the selectboard’s disapproval, the planning commission has now agreed to a reduced expansion of the village growth district. However, despite the board’s suggestion that the commission
After outcry over the rise in property taxes last year caused by the change in Vermont’s school funding formula, the Champlain Valley School Board adopted a budget last week that, if passed, will reduce the property tax rate across all its towns. However, those reductions come with a decrease in services for students and cuts to personnel. At $102.7 million, the entire budget is still rising by almost $1 million, but the school district estimates property tax rates in most of the towns will drop around 4 percent from last year, saving most taxpayers $80 per $100,000 of assessed value. The savings will be greater in Hinesburg and less in Charlotte with a reduction of $100 and $30 per $100,000 in assessed value respectively. “We’re trying to balance both the needs of our students with the ability of the community to afford this, and I think we have to be very careful in how we balance that,” board chair Meghan Metzler said. The majority of the savings in the budget come from a reduction in personnel. The board expects to reduce the hours of or eliminate positions for more than 38 staff. According to the district’s chief operating officer, Gary Marckres, some of those reductions follow naturally from the drop the school
See PROPOSAL on page 12
See SCHOOL BUDGET on page 16
PHOTO BY AL FREY
Sophie Brien, one half of a sibling duo for the CougaerHawks, faces off against an Essex player during a recent game.
Hinesburg planners stay with density proposals BRIANA BRADY STAFF WRITER
Last July, the Hinesburg selectboard rejected the town planning commission’s proposed zoning changes to the Rural Residential 1 zoning district, which currently extends from just outside the village area to the northern part of town. Over the past month, the commission has
addressed the issues the selectboard raised with parts of their proposal and is preparing to send a revision back to the selectboard. While the selectboard approved the majority of the rezoning changes originally put forward by the planning commission last year, the rejection last summer was focused on both the proposed density in one of the proposed districts and the expansion of the village growth area to include the entirety of
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