“The board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England Towns in the United States.”

Roles & Responsibilities

The select board is at the center of Vermont’s local government. It is the body that has general supervision and control over the affairs of the town. 24 V.S.A. § 872. The select board performs three functions: legislative (enacts local ordinances, regulations and policies); administrative (prepares and presents the budget, oversees all town expenditures, supervises personnel and controls town buildings and property); and quasi-judicial (determines private rights in such areas as laying out, discontinuing and reclassifying highways and hearing appeals as the local board of health and as the local liquor control commission).

For more information about the role and responsibilities of the select board, please consult VLCT’s Handbook for Vermont Select boards. www.vlct.org