SAINT JOHNSBURY- Residents of Caledonia County may be seeing a tax increase this year due to a recent lawsuit filed by Michelle Poleo-Keefe against the county, claiming she was wrongfully terminated.

News 7's Andrew Koch reports.

When area residents gather in a couple of weeks for Town Meeting Day, one of the items they'll be voting on is the county budget.  The side judges have proposed spending just over four hundred thousand dollars for the operations of the courthouse and sheriff's department.  However, a recent lawsuit against Caledonia County might affect how much you pay in local taxes.

The money that supports each county's legal system goes from you the taxpayer, to your town.  Each town then pays a portion of the taxes it collects to the Courthouse and Sheriff's Department for their operation.  However, this years taxpayers in Caledonia County may have to pay a little bit more for the operation of their Courthouse and Sheriff's Office.

The county has recently settled a lawsuit brought by a former Sheriff's Department employee.  Michelle Poleo-Keefe filed suit against the county, claiming she was wrongfully terminated due to the involvement of her Ex-Husband and Ex-Boyfriend in the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Gang.  The Vermont Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit, claiming that she was not given due process before she was fired, violating her Fifth Amendment Rights.  Caledonia County Assistant Judge Roy Vance took this lawsuit very personally.  "My peers never had liability and we never had anything happen throughout the state that would arise my need to have liability, but I take this personally because I think that I should've got liability to protect my towns."

Koch said, "This lawsuit by Poleo-Keefe has prompted Judge Vance to purchase liability insurance for the first time in twenty-two years.  It's also prompted Vance to ask for a change in the state law."  Judge Vance would like to see this sentence removed from title twenty-four section seventy-three of the Vermont State Law, which states; "The County shall also provide reasonable secretarial assistance and bookkeeping assistance."  Vance feels that removing this sentence from the law will reduce each county's liability.

Vance has sent a letter to area Legislators asking them to consider the issue during this session.  Vermont A.C.L.U. Executive Director Allen Gilbert says he's not sure that removing this sentence from the state law would reduce county liability.  Judge Vance says that he is unsure if the Legislature will take up his proposal to change the law during this year's Legislative Session.  Sheriff Michael Bergeron declined to comment on camera for this story.