The fiscal year of the Town shall begin on the first day of July and shall end on the last day of June, unless the Massachusetts General Laws require another period.
(a) 
Annually, not later than the first day of October, the Town Manager, with the agreement of the Select Board, Appropriation Committee and School Committee, shall establish and issue a budget schedule, which shall set forth the calendar dates relating to the development of the Town’s annual operating budget for the ensuing fiscal year. The budget schedule shall set dates for:
1. 
The issuance of a budget policy statement to be issued by the Select Board;
2. 
The deadline for submission of budget requests to the Town Manager;
3. 
The deadline for the submission of the Capital Improvements Program to the Select Board and the Appropriation Committee;
4. 
The deadline for the submission of financial articles to the Appropriation Committee;
5. 
The deadline for the submission of a comprehensive draft budget from the Town Manager to the Select Board;
6. 
The adoption of a budget by the Select Board and submission of such budget to the Appropriation Committee; and,
7. 
A public hearing on the budget to be held by the Appropriation Committee.
(b) 
The Town Manager shall submit all financial articles to the Appropriation Committee in accordance with the budget schedule. At least fourteen (14) days prior to the date of the Annual Town Meeting, the Appropriation Committee shall issue recommendations and detailed explanations of all financial articles in an annual Appropriation Committee Report. In preparing its recommendations, the Appropriation Committee may require the Town Manager and representatives from any Town Department, board or committee to appear before it and furnish it with such additional financial reports and budgetary information as it may deem necessary or appropriate.
The Town Manager shall annually submit a Capital Improvements Program to the Select Board and Appropriation Committee in accordance with the budget schedule established pursuant to Section 7-2(a) of this Charter. The Capital Improvements Program shall be designed to address unmet, long-range needs and to implement the capital goals and objectives of the Town, and shall include all Town activities, all Town Departments including the School Department, and all enterprise funds. It shall contain:
(a) 
A clear and concise general summary of the Capital Improvements Program.
(b) 
A list of all capital improvements proposed to be undertaken during the following ten (10) years, with supporting information as to the need for each capital improvement.
(c) 
Cost estimates, potential methods of financing and recommended time schedules for each improvement; and,
(d) 
The estimated annual cost of operating and maintaining each facility and item of major equipment involved.
The Capital Improvements Program information shall be reviewed annually by the Town Manager to determine the status of capital improvements still pending or in the process of being acquired, improved or constructed.
The Select Board shall provide for an independent audit of all financial books and records of the Town no less than once a year, or whenever it deems an audit of the whole Town, or of any particular Town Department, office, or board or committee, to be necessary.
Audits of the financial books and records shall be conducted by a certified public accountant, or firm of such accountants, having no interest, direct or indirect, in the affairs of the Town. The Appropriation Committee and its agents shall have access at all times to the books and financial records of the Town Departments, boards and committees and offices for its review.
Results of the audit, financial statements and management letter, shall be made available to the public in the Select Board’s office.