The Killington Selectboard accepted a budget after months of debate and a standoff with the town manager. File photo by Natalie Williams/VTDigger The selectboard in Killington approved a budget Monday by a 4-1 vote after months of contentious meetings and a standoff with the town manager over wh o has the authority to make staffing decisions.  The town’s voters had rejected an $8.2 million budget proposal on Town Meeting Day in March.  Killington has been beset by upheaval in recent years, with significant turnover in leadership positions, including seven town managers since 2014. The selectboard paused hiring after the budget was voted down in March, but several employees have left over the past six months, including the town’s director of finances, who resigned in May.  After multiple iterations, the newly adopted $7.6 million budget will go up for a townwide vote Aug. 11. Town Manager Patrick Cushing called the budget tight, as the last fiscal year’s budget was $7.7 million, although there will be a 2.66% increase in the amount of municipal taxes collected, he said.  Killington will have to operate without a budget from July 1, the start of the state fiscal year, until the voters approve a new one, Cushing said. The town government will continue to function, operating off the past year’s spending plan in the meantime. This affects cash flow, however, and Killington will likely need a loan to cover expenses until the town collects taxes, Cushing said.  Selectboard meetings to develop the new proposal have been contentious, including one that stretched into the wee hours of the morning earlier in June.  A sticking point in the budget talks was the question of whether to cut the funding for one of the two remaining administrative positions — the bookkeeper and office manager — after the director of finances left without being replaced. The selectboard and Cushing have been at loggerheads because the town manager has not followed the board’s directive to cut one of the positions. The selectboard is contracting out the financial management of large special projects like town infrastructure updates planned through the tax increment financing model.  Cushing said the loss of the finance director has caused him and other town employees to take on a heavier load. Cushing said it is a “very bad decision“ to cut other positions until the town has identified efficiencies and created a plan.  On the other hand, selectboard Chair Jim Haff said that according to state statute, a town manager reports to the board, and that Cushing is defying the selectboard’s directive.  “He’s putting us in a bind,” Haff said in an interview last week. “I guess we’re handcuffed. He’s not willing to make a cut to the administration’s staff.” At a previous selectboard meeting and in an interview, Haff said the board would likely have to cave, which it did Monday, adopting a budget proposal without cutting the position. The possibility of cutting positions has fed conflict within town government in the recent past. AFSCME Council 93 Local 1201, a union that represents nine Killington employees, levied an unfair labor practice charge against the town on April 28, according to union staff representative Kane Sweeney. This came after the selectboard discussed a plan to cut staff who had unionized the day before, according to the charge, which alleges retaliation against unionization efforts.  Vermont Labor Relations Board Executive Director Judith Dillon said in an email Wednesday to VTDigger that the charge is pending. After receiving a response from the town, Dillon said, the labor board will review the charge and determine whether to lodge a complaint that would trigger a hearing.  Residents are also prompting a deeper look into town finances, having approved a citizen petition on Town Meeting Day to conduct a forensic audit at a cost of up to $200,000.   The cost of the audit, reviewing all town finances in the fiscal years of 2023 to 2025, is not included in the budget, as it was already authorized by the voters, Cushing said.  At the Monday meeting, the selectboard also chose to contract with an accounting firm for the audit, which will take approximately five months, Cushing said.   While people may have different reasons for supporting an audit, selectboard Vice Chair Jon Wysocki said he thinks the ultimate goal is to “clear the air,” provide transparency on town finances, and update policies and procedures for financial management. Some selectboard members continue to be dissatisfied with the new town budget proposal.  Wysocki was the one dissenting vote Monday. He said he voted against the budget because he thinks some elements could have been further trimmed to provide more relief to taxpayers, including the position that the town manager was unwilling to cut.  “We had made great strides on the budget, and I think there was more that could have been done,” Wysocki said in an interview.  At the Monday meeting, board member Roger Rivera said he was unhappy with the budget and had lingering questions, but that the deadline to get a budget vote on the ballot at the Aug. 11 primary was approaching. Rivera said this is “the best we’re going to be able to do at this point. Apologies to the voters.” Selectboard member Bill Vines said in an interview Wednesday that the board has gone through months of budget negotiations and come to basic agreement.  “Now, we need to support that budget and get the town moving again,” Vines said. Read the story on VTDigger here: Killington Selectboard approves proposed budget after months of debate. ...read more read less