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Comparative Constitutional Law Keyed to Sutton, 5th Ed.
Taylor v. Town of Cabot
Citation:
178 A.3d 313 (Vt. 2017)Facts
The Town of Cabot received a two-million-dollar Urban Development Action Grant from HUD in the late 1980s to loan to a local cooperative creamery for warehouse construction. By 2003, the cooperative had fully repaid the loan to the Town. Pursuant to HUD authorization, the Town retained these funds in a Community Investment Fund of Cabot for uses consistent with the broad purposes enumerated in the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, including historic preservation, community infrastructure improvements, and quality of life enhancement. The Town established a grant program making these funds available to community groups, nonprofits, civic organizations, fraternal organizations, and town-created entities through an application process reviewed by a selectboard-appointed committee with final approval by town voters. The United Church of Cabot, a historic building serving as both a place of worship and venue for nonsectarian community events, applied for a $10,000 grant to fund a portion of needed repairs identified in a 2014 conditions assessment. The grant application specifically requested funding for painting three exterior sides of the church building and examining window sills for structural damage, representing a small fraction of the total renovation costs. Town voters approved the grant on Town Meeting Day 2016 through a warned question authorizing funds for repairing the steeple, stairwell, and other interior sections in urgent need of repair. Plaintiffs Taylor and Scheiber, municipal taxpayers, challenged the grant as violating the Vermont Constitution’s Compelled Support Clause and sought a preliminary injunction. The Town’s reporting obligation to HUD expired in 1997, five years after the certificate of completion, leaving the Town with broad discretion over fund use subject only to Title I purposes.
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