A Modest Proposal?

In reviewing the vote at Representative Town Meeting, the results of the Australian ballot and the April 22 Selectboard meeting, a fair conclusion so far might be that there needs be a process to ensure the broadest possible input on those budget items on which there is some discretionary judgment.

To that end, I propose to the Selectboard that, in drafting the the Article for the the next Representative Town Meeting, that information be inserted in the warned Article which lists:

• The amount of the budget that constitutes other than fixed expenditures (i.e. negotiated items, debt service, etc.)

• For those amounts which are not fixed, give in sufficient detail:

  • Allocation by Department

  • Allocation by function within a department

    • Management personnel cost

    • Line personnel cost

    • Material/Supplies

    • Capital costs

  • note whether those allocations represent an increase or decrease over the FY ’14 budget by showing the percentage increase or decrease for each

• Following a procedure as outlined would be in accord with the general guidance given by the Secretary of State and Vermont League of Cities and Towns regarding the oversight of the budget by an open town meeting. In Brattleboro, residents could  make their concerns known through their Town Meeting Members.

“F. WHAT CAN BE DONE TO A BUDGET AT TOWN MEETING?

“Many myths abound about what action can be taken on a budget: ‘It can’t be amended;’ or ‘it can only be amended down.’ The Secretary of State and VLCT agree that town budgets and budget line items properly warned for an open town meeting may be amended up or down. New line items cannot be added, but existing line items can be deleted.. . . “        

VLCT Selectboard Handbook – April 2006 http://www.vlct.org/assets/MAC/VLCT_Selectboard_Handbook_Chapter_11_Town_Meetings.pdf

“May the amounts of a line item in the selectboard’s budget be amended to a higher or lower figure?

“The subject of line item vetoes is the rage in Washington D.C., but it’s been a feature of Vermont town meetings throughout our history.  School districts escape some of the onus of a cut because of the school board’s statutory authority to “determine how the voted funds shall be expended,” after the voters have set the budget total.  16 V.S.A. § 562 (8). But selectboards have only as much latitude in fiscal affairs as the voters allow them.

“If the voters approve the highway budget without amendment, the selectboard may spend the money on highways in any manner they choose, in order to fulfill their statutory authority.  19 V.S.A. § 303.  But we’d argue that by amending or deleting a line item, the voters effectively restrict the selectboard’s discretion in these areas. But that is a substantive point of law, and here we are dealing with procedure.  The motion to amend a line item in a budget is proper, and can be accepted by the moderator.”

Handbook for Vermont Moderators 2009, Vermont Secretary of State.  pp. 43-44

https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/78387/moderator-guide.pdf

Brattleboro Selectboard Special Mtg. 4/22/14 – video link

http://brattleborotv.org/brattleboro-selectboard/brattleboro-selectboard-special-mtg-42214

Agenda for Selectboard Mtg. 4/29/14

http://www.brattleboro.org/vertical/sites/%7BFABA8FB3-EBD9-4E2C-91F9-C74DE6CECDFD%7D/uploads/Agenda_04-29-14.pdf

Robert A. Oeser