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, low-cost professional services, and confidential legal guidance, and answer general questions on a myriad of municipal topics. 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: Legal Inquiry Service Information
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.
PACIF members receive hefty discounts on all training, 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 | Selectboard & Manager/Administrator | 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 Appeal Hearings) |
| Charters | Selectboard and Other Elected Officers |
MAC Attorneys will draft and review your ordinances, bylaws, policies, and charters.
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! This low-cost legal service is available to all VLCT members.
We provide low-cost recruitment support for statutory managers and municipal administrators. Let us help you find your next hire!
Support services include:
- Advertising and job description drafting and review
- Targeted ad placement
- Application gathering and candidate communication
- Interview support
- Background and Reference Checks
- Providing guidance and education on all stages of the hiring process
The Municipal Assistance Center team has created a number of 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. Navigate to resources from our topics below or find them in the resource library.
Surveys, reports, polls, analysis, and custom projects.
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 assistance, participation, and feedback help increase the variety and quality of our data sources for our surveys, research, and publications. MAC conducts surveys, polls, and assessments throughout the year on various topics of municipal interest.
Click the button above for more information on our data collection projects. To request survey or project assistance, please contact hlaw@vlct.org or call 1-800-649-7915.
