WOODSTOCK — Voters who braved a snowy conditions to attend an in-person Town Meeting on Saturday morning rejected a plan to replace the town’s elected listers with professional property assessors.

Of the 10 articles on the warning, none brought more questions or comments from participants than the request from the Selectboard to eliminate the position of town lister.

The article was the only one of the 10 to be denied by voters; it failed by a tally of 46-32.

Voters approved the town’s proposed budget of $7,681,341 for next year along with $1.2 million for the municipal sewer budget.

The town currently has two elected listers, Kathy Avellino and Tim McCarthy. Among other duties, the listers office manages appraisals of every property in Woodstock at fair-market value in accordance with Vermont statutes.

Under the proposed article, the job would have shifted from being elected by the town to being appointed by the Selectboard.

A back-and-forth of questions and comments from attendees, Selectboard members and new Town Manager Eric Duffy lasted nearly 40 minutes before it was voted on.

Selectboard Chairman Joe Swanson contended an appointed lister-appointee would still be accountable to voters because the Selectboard is accountable to voters.

Selectboard member Susan Ford pointed to the importance of continuity and expertise in the roles.

“The listers go through a lot of training and then they’re up for reelection, which we all know in small towns can end up being a popularity contest,” Ford said. “By us being able to appoint, we can maintain the training and experience in that important office.”

Voting on the proposed article had to be done by paper ballot, according to Vermont statute, and some 76 Woodstock residents — a clear majority of them opposed — ambled into queues in the two main aisles at the Woodstock Town Hall Theater to cast their votes.

Discussion relating to the town budget wasn’t quite as long, but focused on addressing ways to save money in current and future iterations of the town plan.

Roger Williams, a resident of Woodstock Village, called it “unsustainable.”

“We have increased our budget by over 50% since 2013,” Williams said. “This is an unsustainable rate of growth. ... We need to go through this operating budget and decide what is absolutely necessary to keep (the town running).”

About $5.7 million of the total $7.6 million budget will come from property taxes. Last year, voters approved a budget of $7.03 million, of which $5.4 million came from taxes.

In this year’s spending plan, $2.25 million has been allocated for town highways, $1.4 million for the town’s ambulance department and roughly $750,000 for general government operating costs.

The remaining articles, including the approval of a $1.2 million town sewer budget, were approved with little discussion.

From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7 at the Woodstock Town Hall, Woodstock residents can vote on articles 11–21 of the town warning. Several Woodstock town officer positions are up for election, including town clerk, two Selectboard seats and the offices of the town treasurer and town auditor.

Ray Couture can be reached with questions at 1994rbc@gmail.com.

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