Services
Municipalities often have projects or questions that they lack the time, staff, or expertise to tackle. VLCT offers a variety of professional services to support our members. MAC staff provide training, educational resources, research, legal services, confidential legal guidance, and answer general questions on a myriad of municipal topics. In addition, we offer specific training and legal review and drafting services at reasonable rates. View our topics and service areas below.
Municipal Assistance Center (MAC) attorneys help municipal officials by answering their questions (inquiries) concerning general municipal law and local government management and administration and how to apply legal requirements to day-to-day governance and operations. This specialized legal service is governed by the Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys and by our legal service terms of use. Each year, MAC attorneys answer 4000+ member inquiries!
For more information on inquiry service hours, types of questions we answer and access to our terms of use visit our Member Inquiry Service page. Or select the "Ask a Question" button below to access the member support portal.
While VLCT generally does not intervene in specific lawsuits, the League occasionally provides legal support in accordance with our Policy Regarding Filing of Legal Support. As described in the policy, the League’s Board of Directors or Executive Committee will consider and must approve VLCT’s support of cases that involve an important issue of municipal law, policy, or administration, and/or has the potential to affect a significant portion of the League’s membership. Support may include:
- Amicus Curiae: Submit or join in amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs filed with the Vermont Supreme Court by an individual or entity who is not a party to the litigation, but who has an interest in the Court’s decision.
- Memorandums: Provide supporting memorandums to a municipal entity’s counsel to support their efforts, generally at the superior court level.
For more information about VLCT’s process for evaluating legal support requests, or to submit a request, see VLCT Policy Regarding Filing of Legal Support.
MAC Attorneys will draft and review your ordinances, bylaws, policies, and charters.This low-cost legal service is available to all VLCT members and is billed at an hourly rate set by VLCT’s Board of Directors.
MAC’s legal team has free document templates on a wide range of topics to help members comply with state and federal laws. View our topics pages below or search the Resource Library for models with guidance on best practices. You can use these templates as a starting point to draft your own policies and submit a legal review request to the MAC team or MAC staff can draft items for you!
VLCT MAC attorneys and staff are available to deliver low-cost small group training to municipal officials in person, hybrid, or on demand. Training sessions are 1-2 hours in duration and can be delivered in the evening, afternoons, or in place of a local board or commission’s regularly scheduled meeting. Neighboring municipalities are welcome to get together to share training costs.
Please submit training requests 3 – 4 weeks before a desired training date through our Municipal Access Portal form (login required) or email or call Abby Friedman at afriedman@vlct.org or (802) 229-9111.
PACIF members receive hefty discounts on all small group trainings, PACIF members may also be eligible for scholarship assistance for some training. Check out the PACIF Grants & Scholarship page for more information and application materials.
| Municipal Law & Governance | Roles & Responsibilities | Hearings & Decisions |
|---|---|---|
| Open Meeting Law | Selectboards and Managers/Administrators | Land Use Hearings |
| Conflicts of Interest | Planning Commission | Land Use Decisions |
| Public Records | Development Review Board | Board of Abatement |
| Ordinances | Zoning Board of Adjustment | Board of Civil Authority (Tax Assessment Appeal Hearings) |
| Charters | ||
| Mergers |
Research
The Municipal Assistance Center (MAC) is committed to bringing comprehensive and high-quality data to municipal officials to promote evidence-based decision making. To that end, MAC continues and seeks to expand its efforts to improve its collecting, reporting, and analysis of municipal data. Member participation and feedback help increase the variety and quality of our data sources for our surveys, research, and publications. Refer to our Municipal Data Project page for more information on research activities.
For questions or to request custom project assistance, please contact hlaw@vlct.org or call 1-802-229-9111.
Resources
The Municipal Assistance Center team has created resources to assist municipal officials in the legal and practical fulfillment of their duties: templates, model documents, frequently asked questions (FAQs), quick reference guides, info sheets, and more on a wide range of municipal topics are available for free to members of VLCT. You can also access our VLCT news subscriptions, the VLCT Journal and the bi-weekly VLCT News email for timely news, alerts, and tips relevant to Vermont local governments.
Navigate to VLCT resources from the topics section below or find them in the resource library.
