Glossary

Words that come up in agendas, minutes, and their summaries, and what they mean.

abatement: A reduction or cancellation of a property tax bill, granted by the assessors, for example after an error in the assessment.
ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law on access for people with disabilities.
Board of Finance: The mayor, the City Council President, and three councilors, with the Chief Administrative Officer as a non-voting member. It reviews the city's spending and other money matters before the City Council votes on them.
CAO: The Chief Administrative Officer, who leads the Clerk/Treasurer's Office: the city's finances, elections, and public records.
CBA: Collective bargaining agreement: a contract between the city or town and a union of its employees, setting pay and working conditions.
CDBG: Community Development Block Grant: federal money, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, for housing and neighborhood projects that serve low- and moderate-income residents.
CEDO: The Community & Economic Development Office, the city department for housing, neighborhoods, and economic development.
CIP: Capital Improvement Program: the plan for buildings, roads, equipment, and other long-lasting purchases over the next several years, and how to pay for them.
City Council With Mayor Presiding: The City Council meeting with the mayor in the chair, where the Council appoints members of the city's boards and commissions.
COLA: Cost-of-living adjustment: a raise in pay or a pension to keep up with rising prices.
Committee of the Whole: The full council or board meeting as a committee, to discuss a matter before voting on it at a regular meeting.
consent agenda: Routine items, such as minutes and reports, voted on together in one motion without discussion. A member can ask to take any of them up separately.
deliberative agenda: The part of a City Council agenda with the items the Council discusses and votes on one at a time.
executive session: A part of a public meeting closed to the public. Vermont's Open Meeting Law allows it only for specific reasons, such as lawsuits, contracts, or personnel matters, and no final decision may be made in it.
first reading: The first time a council or board takes up an ordinance or other measure. It usually votes on it at a later meeting.
grand list: The total listed value of a city's or town's taxable property. Property tax rates are applied to it.
mill rate: The property tax rate, in dollars for each $1,000 of a property's assessed value. A mill is a tenth of a cent.
NPA: Neighborhood Planning Assembly: a meeting, by ward, open to every resident, where neighbors hear from the city and make recommendations to it.
Public Forum: The time at a City Council meeting when residents can speak to the Council about any city matter.
quitclaim deed: A deed in which the city or town gives up whatever claim it has to a property, such as one it took for unpaid taxes.
receive and file: To accept a letter, report, or other document into the record, without taking any other action on it.
Select Board: The board of three to five elected residents that runs a town between town meetings: it sets policy, hires the town manager or administrator, and calls town meeting. Also called the Board of Selectmen or the Selectboard.
tabled: Set aside by a vote, to take up later. A tabled item comes back when the board votes to take it off the table.
TIF: Tax increment financing: paying for public improvements in a district, such as Burlington's Downtown and Waterfront TIF districts, with the extra property tax its new development brings in.
town meeting: A meeting of a town's voters that acts as its legislature: it votes on the budget, local laws, and the other articles of the warrant. In a representative town meeting, elected members vote.
Town Meeting Day: The first Tuesday in March, when Vermont towns and cities vote. Burlington elects its councilors and school commissioners then and votes on the school budget, bonds, and charter changes.
variance: Permission from the zoning board to use or build on a property in a way the zoning doesn't allow, such as closer to a lot line, because of a hardship particular to the property.
VSA: Vermont Statutes Annotated, the state's laws (also written V.S.A.).
warrant article: One item on the warrant, the list of what a town meeting will vote on. Each article is voted on separately.