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Argie's Wife · 12-28-2009, 05:21 PM

Alton's Budget Committee has five members and they are elected, not appointed. They do not receive a stipend for the work they do. I'd wager that three of the five members have an extensive professional background in finances, two have an excellent knowledge of the town's history, while two have a great understanding of the town's departments/functions. (Some of these qualities overlap, of course.) There's one representative from the School Board and one from the town's Board of Selectmen who also attend meetings as a member-at-large of the committee.

I've never seen anyone knocking anyone else over to run for the position. It's a crap job, really, and not too many people want it. I've seen people get elected to the Budget Committee so that they can run for Selectman or School Board later on. At voting time, it's the Budget Committee's budget that's presented to the voters to vote on - not the Selectmen's budget.

Personally, I think Budget Committee should be a pre-requsite for Selectmen - if you can't make the meetings, don't understand the budget process, and aren't familiar with how the town runs, how can you make informed decisions on the management of the town issues?

Budget Committees, just like any other public meeting, have to have meeting minutes available for review by the public within 5 business days (see RSA 91 - the Right To Know Law) and have to meet in a public place, with postings for their meetings in a public place (usually the post office and town hall). They are supposed to have public input in their agenda - if they don't then it better be a special meeting and not "the norm". There's is generally one public hearing on the town's budget and one on the school's budget prior to voting.

And yes, people do NOT get involved, as a rule. I could count on one hand the number of people I've seen in attendance for the public hearings (and that's w/ our winter population of 4K+) - I've been watching these meetings for four years now.

12-28-2009, 05:21 PM	#12
Argie's Wife Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Alton Posts: 1,908 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 533 Thanked 579 Times in 260 Posts	Budget Committees Alton's Budget Committee has five members and they are elected, not appointed. They do not receive a stipend for the work they do. I'd wager that three of the five members have an extensive professional background in finances, two have an excellent knowledge of the town's history, while two have a great understanding of the town's departments/functions. (Some of these qualities overlap, of course.) There's one representative from the School Board and one from the town's Board of Selectmen who also attend meetings as a member-at-large of the committee. I've never seen anyone knocking anyone else over to run for the position. It's a crap job, really, and not too many people want it. I've seen people get elected to the Budget Committee so that they can run for Selectman or School Board later on. At voting time, it's the Budget Committee's budget that's presented to the voters to vote on - not the Selectmen's budget. Personally, I think Budget Committee should be a pre-requsite for Selectmen - if you can't make the meetings, don't understand the budget process, and aren't familiar with how the town runs, how can you make informed decisions on the management of the town issues? Budget Committees, just like any other public meeting, have to have meeting minutes available for review by the public within 5 business days (see RSA 91 - the Right To Know Law) and have to meet in a public place, with postings for their meetings in a public place (usually the post office and town hall). They are supposed to have public input in their agenda - if they don't then it better be a special meeting and not "the norm". There's is generally one public hearing on the town's budget and one on the school's budget prior to voting. And yes, people do NOT get involved, as a rule. I could count on one hand the number of people I've seen in attendance for the public hearings (and that's w/ our winter population of 4K+) - I've been watching these meetings for four years now.