The fiscal year of the Town shall begin on July 1 and shall
end on June 30, unless another period is required by Massachusetts
General Laws.
Within the time fixed by bylaw, but not later than December
31, the Select Board shall submit to the Finance Committee for its
analysis, comments, and recommended funding, a proposed balanced operating
budget for the ensuing fiscal year with an accompanying budget message
and supporting documents.
The proposed operating budget shall provide a complete financial
plan for all Town funds and activities for the ensuing fiscal year
except as may otherwise be required by Massachusetts General Laws,
this Charter, or bylaw; it shall be in the form that the Select Board
deems desirable. In the presentation of the budget, the Select Board
shall use modern concepts of fiscal presentation to furnish information
in a complete, clear, and concise manner and in accordance with best
practices of financial reporting and control. The budget shall show
in detail all estimated income from the proposed property tax levy
and all other sources and all proposed expenditures including debt
service, for the following year. The budget shall be arranged to show
the actual and estimated income and expenditures for the previous,
current, and ensuing fiscal years and shall indicate in separate sections
the following:
(a)
Proposed expenditures for current operations during the ensuing fiscal
year, detailed by Town agency and the method of financing such expenditures;
and
(b)
Proposed capital expenditures during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed
by Town agency as developed by the Capital Planning and Investment
Committee and the proposed method of financing each such capital expenditure.
(a)
Upon receipt of the Select Board's budget, the Finance Committee
shall consider detailed expenditures for each Town agency in public
meetings and may confer with representatives of each agency in connection
with its review and consideration. The Finance Committee may require
any Town official or Town agency to furnish it with additional information
it deems necessary to assist it in its review and consideration of
the proposed budget.
(b)
Upon completion of its initial review of the budget, at least 30
days prior to the first session of the Annual Town Meeting, the Finance
Committee shall meet with the Select Board and the Capital Planning
and Investment Committee to discuss any changes it recommends to the
budget as initially prepared by the Select Board. After consideration
of the recommendations of the Finance Committee, the Select Board
shall make such changes to the budget as it deems appropriate and
shall present a revised budget to the Finance Committee.
(c)
The Finance Committee shall file with the Town Clerk, at least 14
days before the first session of the Annual Town Meeting, its report
on the proposed budget, including comments on any recommendations
not incorporated into the budget by the Select Board. The report shall
also be made available to voters of the Town by publication on the
Town's website and by leaving copies of the report in at least three
public places in the Town at least 14 days before the first session
of the Annual Town Meeting. Additionally, copies of the report shall
be made available to voters at the first session of the Annual Town
Meeting. The failure to timely file the budget report with the Town
Clerk or to publicize the report by posting on the Town's website
or in three public places in the Town shall not prohibit the Town
Meeting from voting on the budget nor shall it affect the validity
of any vote taken thereon at Town Meeting.
(d)
The Select Board's proposed annual Town budget shall be presented
to Town Meeting by motions made by the Select Board, which shall also
present its comments and recommendations with respect to the budget.
The Finance Committee shall also present its comments and recommendations
with respect to the budget to the Town Meeting.
(a)
Membership. There shall be a Capital Planning and Investment Committee
comprising eight members: three non-voting members who shall be the
Town Administrator, Superintendent of Schools, and Finance Director;
and five voting members. Voting members shall be chosen by their respective
boards as follows: one member each from the Finance Committee, School
Committee, and Select Board. The Moderator shall appoint two residents
who do not serve as members of any other Town agency. Those two residents
shall serve staggered three-year terms.
(b)
Duties. The committee shall consider matters relating to appropriations
from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund, and shall make
recommendations to the Select Board relative to the funding of capital
projects of the Town and recommend priorities and schedules for such
capital projects. The committee shall study proposed capital outlays
involving the acquisition of land or a capital expenditure as defined
in the bylaw. All Town agencies, including the Select Board and the
School Committee, shall, by October 15 each year, give to the Capital
Planning and Investment Committee information concerning all anticipated
capital projects needing Town Meeting action during the ensuing five
years on forms prepared by the committee. The committee shall consider
the relative need, timing, and cost of these expenditures and the
effect each will have on the financial position of the Town.
The committee shall transmit its recommendations to the Select
Board not later than December 31 of the year immediately preceding
the year in which the next Annual Town Meeting is to convene. The
Select Board shall consider such recommendations when it prepares
a Capital Improvement Program. The text and tables of the Capital
Improvement Program for the following five years shall be published
in the Town's Annual Report.
The Select Board shall provide for an independent audit of all
financial books and records of the Town annually and whenever it deems
an audit of the whole Town or of any particular Town agency to be
necessary. Audits of the Town's financial books and records shall
be conducted by a certified public accountant, or a firm of such accountants,
having no direct or indirect interest in the affairs of the Town.
