City Committee Stipend Project

Stipends for City Committees, Task Forces, and Commissions for FY23

Background Information:

In August 2021, the Creative Discourse Group presented its City of Montpelier Equity Assessment, in partnership with the City's Social and Economic Justice Advisory Committee (SEJAC). One of the he Creative Discourse Group's recommendations from that report included: “Offer stipends to residents for service on boards and commissions to support child care, income replacement, access to transportation, and other barriers to volunteer participation in involved City processes”. With the inclusion of $30,000 in the FY23 City Budget, Council asked for SEJAC to come back to Council with specifics on how the program will be run.

Pilot Program Overview:

The pilot implementation of the Stipends will aim to be as easy as possible. Volunteers appointed to boards, committees or commissions may receive a $50 per meeting stipend to assist with indirect expenses such as childcare assistance, food, or transportation. Stipends will be first-come-first served. Stipends will be only for regularly scheduled meetings, not subcommittee meetings, and must be validated by proof of attendance at the meetings. Payments will be made monthly, with the program ending when funding is depleted or the end of the fiscal year, whichever is first.

Success Measures:

SEJAC will be implementing a pre-program implementation survey, asking for all current members of City board, committee, commission, or task forces to voluntarily self-identify their demographics. These questions are broad, and cover race, ethnicity, home ownership/renting, age, gender expression, etc. These questions will be asked again post-program, to determine if it may have influenced any change in demographics. The goal would be to have City board, committee, commission, or task force members represent the demographic makeup of the City of Montpelier. SEJAC will also be tracking the number of applications to be part of the City’s board, committee, commission, or task forces before and after program implementation, along with the overall number of vacancies. 

Signing up to Receive a Stipend:

Eligible appointees can begin to apply for a Stipend starting June 27th. Stipends will not begin or accrue until after July 1st, 2022

Volunteers appointed to boards, committees or commissions may receive a $50 per meeting stipend to assist with indirect expenses such as childcare assistance, food, or transportation. The stipends will be distributed throughout FY23 until the total of $30,000 has been reached. 

You must be officially appointed or elected by the Montpelier City Council or the City of Montpelier to be eligible. Please contact your committee’s staff representative or committee chair for more information on how to enroll. You may also send inquiries to Kelly Murphy, Assistant City Manager at kmurphy@montpelier-vt.org or 802-262-6250.