Voters cast their ballots at the polls in Hartford, Vt. on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. By noontime, voter turnout was already up from the previous election year. (Valley News - John Happel) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Voters cast their ballots at the polls in Hartford, Vt. on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. By noontime, voter turnout was already up from the previous election year. (Valley News - John Happel) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Hartford — Voters reaffirmed their backing for Town Charter amendments that passed last spring.

One will emphasize Australian ballot voting over the traditional floor meeting, and the other allows for the collection of a 1 percent local option tax on rooms, meals and alcohol sales within town limits.

With a total of 5,197 ballots cast, unofficial tallies show the option tax passed with 54 percent of the vote, 2,575–2,170, while the Australian ballot amendment passed with a much more comfortable 74 percent of the vote, 3,352–1,152.

“I’m very happy,” said Selectboard Chairman Dick Grassi, moments after hearing the news Tuesday night.

If the Vermont Legislature approves the charter amendments, the tax could be implemented as soon as July 1, according to Town Manager Leo Pullar.

The revenue, which is split with the state, is expected to generate at least $250,000 annually; town officials must seek explicit voter approval in order to expend the funds.

The passage of the other amendment means that, in the future, if voters reject a budget at the ballot box, an amended budget will be reconsidered by another Australian ballot, rather than a traditional floor meeting.

Nearly identical measures were approved by voters in March, but were not implemented at that time because state legislators found that the town had failed to give Town Meeting voters adequate advance knowledge of the specific language in the charter amendments.

In March, the local option tax was approved by 56 percent of a smaller pool of 2,950 voters, while the Australian ballot vote got 70 percent, 1,950 -825.

This time around, copies of the proposed amendments were posted in each polling booth.

The town’s current system, in which failed budgets are considered at a floor meeting, is an unusual hybrid system that was adopted as a compromise between Australian ballot supporters, and those who preferred the face-to-face interaction and citizen engagement that come with a floor meeting.

The hybrid system came under fire in 2015, when, after more than 1,000 Town Meeting voters rejected the proposed budget of the Selectboard, a few hundred floor meeting attendees approved a revised budget.

Critics were uneasy with the idea that fewer citizens participated in the Floor Meeting than cast votes at the ballot box.

The local option tax has been debated in Hartford for years; business owners who opposed the move said it was damaging to the local economy and added to a perceived competitive disadvantage that favors New Hampshire over comparable services in Vermont.

Supporters of the tax said it would help to shore up chronic shortfalls in municipal coffers, and would diversify taxes in a way that would benefit property taxpayers at the expense of visitors and tourists.

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.