From left, Judy Burgess, local election official, Kate George, justice of the peace, Karmen Bascom, town clerk, John Dettwiler, local election official, and Suzanne Long, justice of the peace, count early votes and absentee ballots at White River Valley High School in South Royalton, Vt., on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (Valley News / Report For America - Alex Driehaus) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
From left, Judy Burgess, local election official, Kate George, justice of the peace, Karmen Bascom, town clerk, John Dettwiler, local election official, and Suzanne Long, justice of the peace, count early votes and absentee ballots at White River Valley High School in South Royalton, Vt., on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (Valley News / Report For America - Alex Driehaus) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Alex Driehaus

ROYALTON — Royalton voters opted not to move to a town manager form of government, to keep a constable position and disapproved the town’s ordinance regulating the use of all-terrain vehicles on town roads in ballot voting on Tuesday.

The vote on the town manager form of government was not close, 120 in favor and 412 against.

The vote on eliminating the constable position was closer, but still resounding: 196 for and 322 against.

The ATV vote was closest of the three, with 307 in support of disapproving the ordinance and 236 against, but it was a far cry from last year’s narrow vote directing the Selectboard to draft the ordinance, which passed by one vote.

Timothy Murphy won a three-way race for a single two-year seat on the Selectboard with 234 votes to Kate George’s 181 and Mark Preston’s 108.

In an uncontested race, Stuart Levasseur won a three-year term on the Selectboard.

Voters also approved both a general fund budget of $1.78 million, of which $1.4 million is slated to come from taxes, and a highway budget of $1.1 million, of which $850,000 is to come from taxes. Both budgets are up from last year, when voters approved $1.45 million for the general fund and $1.03 million for highways.

Elected officials

Number of voters: 554

Number on checklist: 2,144

Moderator: Allison Fulcher

Town Clerk: Karmen Bascom

Selectboard (3 years): Stuart Levasseur

Selectboard (2 years): Timothy Murphy

Lister: Walt Hastings

Delinquent Tax Collector: Theresa Harrington

Trustee of Public Funds: Donna Bohonnon

Second Constable: Todd Ballantine

Cemetery Commissioner: Carol Greene

Library Trustee: Bridgett Taylor