Advisory Budget Committee formed- No vote until 2010?
"Selectman James Gray asked Whitley if the AdvisoryBudget Committee will become an elected board in the future or remain appointed by the Selectmen and School Board. Whitley replied that the School Board and the Board of Selectmen will, after the annual meetings, be asked to give input on “what went well and what didn’t” during the budget committee’s maiden year. “That’s when we’ll decide,” Laurie Whitley, SAU45 School Board Member
From the MCA: In light of the recent “charter” to the newly formed Moultonborough Budget Advisory Committee a little history is in order to better understand how we got to this point and the implications
In brief , a petitioned article was placed on the 2007 Town Warrant (below) to establish an elected municipal budget committee. The article was amended at the meeting to become a “committee” to study the effects of a budget committee on the town and report back to the selectmen. The intent of the petitioned article was completely changed by a small number of attendees at Town meeting 2007. The amendment was then approved as was the article.
At the January 10th, 2008 selectmen meeting, the selectmen voted to create an “Advisory Budget Committee that would serve until March 2009, thereby preventing an anticipated warrant article to allow the voters to elect a budget committee. This followed the vote by the school board a month earlier to create a budget advisory committee :
Other Matters - Budget Study Committee: Chairperson Whitley updated the Board on the Budget Study Committee. RSA 32:24 would provide the most flexibility. There was discussion on Budget Study Committee. There was discussion on supporting the Selectmen and clarification of establishing a committee on January 3rd. There was further discussion on following the recommendations of the Budget Study Committee. Mark Borrin moved, and Kathy Garry seconded a motion, to adopt an Advisory Budget Committee as outlined in RSA 32:24 to work with both the Town and School budgets, and would consist of a five member board, which would include a flex board person, a school board person, and three members appointed at large. There was discussion on why this motion was being made. All voted in favor. Kathy Garry has agreed to act as the School Board representative on this Committee.
It was clear during 2007 that many in our town government and school district did not want a budget committee with anything other than advisory powers including the school district superintendent, the school board and the library trustees.
Interestingly, there is no mention of this discussion or decision in the minutes of the January 10th 2008 selectmen's minutes. It is not mentioned again until the February 14th, 2008 meeting as follows:
“Betsey asked if there was a warrant article for the Town to vote for members of the Advisory Budget Committee. Karel replied that there was not. Discussion took place, with Ed and Betsey recalling that there would be a vote this year, allowing candidates to run in 2009. Karel, Joel and Jim recollected that the plan was to set up the advisory committee, with the Selectmen, School Board and Library Trustees appointing five qualified people for the first year. After the first year, the Selectmen would be able to make an informed recommendation for the 2009 Town Meeting and deciding about electing committee members with a warrant article. Mr. Hopkins, The Chair of the Budget Study Committee, stated that all that was required is that the committee report to the Selectmen. Karel stated that she would review the Minutes for clarity. The sentiment by a 3-2 polling of the Selectmen was to not have a warrant article.”
At best, the citizens of Moultonborough will not even have an opportunity to vote for an Advisory Budget Committee member until March 2010 (if the selectmen and school board allow it). As stated in the article that follows, school board member Laurie Whitely stated: “ the School Board and the Board of Selectmen will, after the annual meetings, be asked to give input on “what went well and what didn’t” “That’s when we’ll decide,”.
So the bottom line is that the issue of a budget committee has been taken out of the hands of the citizens as originally presented as a petition warrant article in 2007. It is now firmly and undeniably in the control of the people who want it the least.
Following is the original Article in the March 2007 warrant and then the article in the July5th 2008 Meredith News.
ARTICLE 8
To see if the Town shall establish an elected municipal budget committee in accordance with NH RSA - Title 32, Chapter 3. The budget committee shall consist of five (5) members elected at-large, one (1) member of the governing body of the municipality and one (1) member of the school board. If adopted, the Moderator shall appoint members to serve until the next annual meeting, as provided in RSA 669:17. (The vote on this Article shall be by paper ballot; the Polls shall remain open and ballots accepted for at least one hour.) (By Petition)
A motion was made by Chris Shipp and seconded by Richard Plaisted.
After discussion a motion was made by Richard Buckler and seconded by Kathy Erving to amend the article to read:
To see if the moderator will appoint 5 registered voters to a committee to study the effects of a municipal budget committee on the Town of
The amendment was voted in the affirmative by a hand vote.
Yes 200 No 126
The article as amended was voted on in the affirmative by a majority voice vote.
The Meredith News July 3rd, 2008
BY ERIK ZYGMONT
mailto:EZYGMONT@SALMONPRESS.COM
MOULTONBORO — The Board of Selectmen and the School Board have formally appointed five members to the Advisory Budget Committee, the result of a 2007 request from voters to explore the possibility of a Moultonboro budget committee. The Advisory Budget Committee will analyze school district, library, and town budgets, giving recommendations first to those respective boards, and, later, directly to the voters.Acting on the recommendations of the Town/SAU Working Group, formed to establish the framework and membership of the Advisory Budget Committee, the School Board and the Board of Selectmen appointed three at-large members— Jean Beadle, Gary Haracz, and Edward Marudzinski—to the fledgling committee. “All of them have excellent backgrounds, in accounting and finance,” said Selectman Ed Charest. “That’s what we’re looking for.” In addition to the at-large members, Selectman Karel Crawford will serve on the Advisory Budget Committee as the Board of Selectmen representative, and Kathy Garry will represent the School Board. At the June 26 Board of Selectmen meeting, Town/SAU Working Group member Laurie Whitley presented the Advisory Budget Committee’s charge. After a multi-step review process, the committee will ultimately make recommendations to the voting public on both the town and school budgets, and every monetary warrant article. Additionally, according to literature provided by the Working Group, the Budget Committee members are invited to attend all Board of Selectmen, School Board, and Library Trustee meetings related to budget development.The committee will also review all budget proposals made by the town and school, and make recommendations directly to the select selectmen and the School Board.The meat of the committee’s work will come as budget hearings and annual meetings draw closer. Four weeks before the annual budget hearings, the Board of Selectmen and the School Board will forward their budgets to the Advisory Budget Committee, which will make recommendations and include reasoning for any recommendations that differ from the original budgets. According to its charge, the committee must make these recommendations two weeks before the budget hearings. ......
Following the budget hearings, the committee makes its final recommendations, to the public, for presentation at the annual
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The Board of Selectman and School Board have completely missed the point of the budget committee. The whole point of a Budget Committee is to have independent review and scrutiny of the budget and spending process, the key concept being “independent”. I am not sure how it serves the stakeholders (taxpayers) by having the same people who are budgeting and spending (the Selectmen and School Board) auditing their own processes and budgets. Carol Crawford and our Board of Selectmen have spun this “fox auditing the chicken-coop” situation the best they could into some selfless act of doubling their work for the good of the Town. The reality is that our elected boards do not want or care for taxpayer participation, which is why we need SB2.