Latest Monday news on Middlefield budget town meeting
Posted Monday, June 22, 2009 - 10:34am
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“Upon consulting with counsel, it was determined that the budget we motioned to the Board of Selectmen for town meeting at the June 11 special meeting must go to town meeting unchanged. So therefore, we will not hold an ‘extra’ public hearing on Monday, but hold everything on Thursday, June 25, at 7 p.m. at Memorial School auditorium. We will start with the public hearing and proceed to town meeting. A Board of Finance special meeting will be scheduled/noticed for immediately after the town meeting.” Announcement from Ellen Waff, chair, Middlefield Board of Finance (BOF)
The necessity to bring the budget passed by the BOF on June 11 to the town meeting on June 25 without changes apparently has to do with noticing requirements. Since the legal notice has a bottom line, that bottom line must be what townspeople vote on. (It could be changed in the town meeting itself – decreased by any amount by a two-thirds vote of those attending, or increased by not more than one-half of one percent, or around $20,000, also by a two-thirds vote.) It is not one hundred percent clear whether the BOF or the town meeting itself can legally choose to meet the bottom line by rearrangement, or, for example, taking out all reserve set asides for a new fire truck and other town vehicles for this year rather than reducing the assessor’s and constable’s hours and eliminating support for Durham Middlefield Youth and Family Services. Hopefully, town officials are asking these questions, and hopefully, also, town counsel and union counsel will be available at the public hearing and town meeting on Thursday, June 25, at 7 p.m. at the MEMORIAL SCHOOL auditorium.
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