Warning of the 102nd Annual Winooski City Meeting 

The legal voters of Winooski are hereby warned and notified to meet at the Winooski School District Auditorium on March 3, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. to discuss Article Two, Article Three, Article Four & Article Five to conduct an informational meeting on the Australian Ballot questions. A public hearing will coincide with the informational meeting to discuss Article Four & Article Five (Advisory & Non-Binding).

The meeting to be adjourned and to reconvene at the Winooski Senior Center, 123 Barlow Street on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 to transact any business involving voting by Australian Ballot to begin at 7:00 a.m. in the morning and closing at 7:00 p.m. The legal voters of the City of Winooski are further notified that voter qualification, registration and absentee voting relative to said meeting shall be as provided in Vermont Statutes Annotated Title 17 Chapters 43, 51 and 55, and Act No. M-6 (H.227)

Article One

To elect (2) City Councilors for a term of two (2) years each.

Article Two- City Budget

Shall the voters of the City of Winooski approve the budget for the Fiscal Year 2026 in the amount of Eleven Million Two Hundred Eighty-Eight Thousand One Hundred Twenty-Two dollars and Forty-Nine Cents ($11,288,122.49). The amount to be raised from property taxes is Eight Million Six Hundred Forty-Eight Thousand Five Hundred Eighty-Three Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents ($8,648,583.49).

Article Three

Shall the City Council be authorized to apply for and accept funds from sources other than property taxation, and to expend the same for the benefit of the City in addition to sums for which budget appropriation has been made? (Approval of this article will not impact property taxes.)

Article Four

Shall the Charter of the City of Winooski, Acts of 2013, No. M-9, as amended, be further amended to give the City Council the power to provide by ordinance protections for residential tenants from evictions without 'just cause' by adopting and adding a new subsection 304(b)(13) to read as follows:

"304(b)(13)(A) To provide by ordinance protections for residential tenants, as defined in Chapter 137 of Title 9 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated, from eviction without 'just cause,' where just cause shall include, but is not limited to:

1. a tenant's material breach of a written rental agreement,

2. a tenant's violation of state statutes regulating tenant obligations in residential rental agreements,

3 .non-payment of rent, and

4. a tenant's failure to accept written, reasonable, good faith renewal terms.

(B) Such ordinance shall exclude from 'just cause' the expiration of a rental agreement as sole grounds for termination of tenancy. In addition to the exemptions in VSA Chapter 137 of Title 9, the ordinance shall exempt from this provision, subject to mitigation provisions, sublets and in-unit rentals as well as the following properties but not limited to:

1. owner-occupied duplexes, and triplexes;

2. those being withdrawn from the rental market, including properties to be occupied by the owner or an immediate family member as a primary residence; and

3. those in need of substantial renovations which preclude occupancy

(C) Such ordinance shall include provisions that:

1. mitigate potential negative impacts on tenants and property owners, including but not limited to requirements of adequate notice and reasonable relocation expenses,

2. provide for a reasonable probationary period after initial occupancy, and

3. limit unreasonable rent increases to prevent de facto evictions or nonrenewals, although this shall not be construed to limit rents beyond the purpose of preventing individual evictions.

(D) The ordinance shall define what is 'reasonable' and 'adequate notice' in defining just cause and shall require that landlords provide notice of just cause and other legal requirements as part of the rental agreement."?

Article Five (Advisory Non-Binding)

Shall the voters of the City of Winooski advise the Mayor and the City Council to adopt the following pledge?

"WE AFFIRM our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people; and

WE OPPOSE all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression; and

WE DECLARE ourselves an apartheid-free community, and to that end,

WE PLEDGE to join others in working to end all support to Israel's apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.

Dated at Winooski, Vermont this 21st day of January,2025

s/s Kristine Lott
Mayor Kristine Lott

s/s Thomas Renner
Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner

s/s Bryn Oakleaf
Councilor Bryn Oakleaf

s/s Aurora Hurd
Councilor Aurora Hurd

s/s Charles Judge
Councilor Charles Judge