Morristown Solving Lister Issues

by Amy Kolb Noyes

The Morristown Selectboard unanimously voted to hire an appraisal firm
to conduct some of the business previously accomplished by the town's
Board of Listers. Morristown was left in a lurch this spring when its
two listers resigned, leaving the office unmanned. As an immediate fix,
Morristown enlisted the services of the Vermont Appraisal Company, and
appointed one parttime interim lister.
Vermont Appraisal Company offered the town a contract for the 2004-2005
fiscal year for $22,770 or a flat rate of $500 per day for appraiser Ted
Nelson to continue to conduct property appraisals for the town. After
unanimously accepting the contract, the board examined how many listers
the town needs, with appraisal services now contracted out.
Town Administrator Paul McGinley relayed to the board Lister Charlie
McArthur is interested in retaining his position, but said 20 hours a
week is not enough to accomplish all that must be done in the lister's
office, even with the help of an appraisal firm. The board had
previously advertised to hire another lister, and resident Tom Williams
was in attendance in response to the advertisement.
The board discussed how many lister hours would be needed in light of
the new appraisal company contract. It was decided funding was in place
for approximately 40 lister hours. The board then pondered whether one
fulltime or two parttime listers should fill those hours. Board Chairman
Brian Greenia chimed in, "I think history says we should never again put
all our eggs in one basket."
With that, the board offered an interim lister position to Williams, who
said he would be willing to run for a permanent position on Town Meeting
Day. Williams warned the board his employment situation was in flux, and
he was not sure how many hours he could commit to at this time. The
board agreed it would be valuable to have Willams, who has worked as a
real estate agent since 1985, as a lister "whatever the hours would be,"
in Greenia's words. It was moved and unanimously passed to appoint
Williams as lister for up to 20 hours per week.