Town Meeting 101: A Primer

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The Local Government Center, a key partner in this project, provided this brief guide to town meeting:

Traditional Town Meeting
A meeting “for the choice of town officers and the transaction of all other town business” shall be held annually on the second Tuesday of March. Towns that have adopted the optional fiscal year may vote to hold the annual meeting on the second Tuesday of May. Towns and districts that have adopted the official ballot referendum provisions may choose to hold the annual meeting in March, April or May.

A town has the option of conducting the election of town officers and other actions required to be on the official ballot at the first session of the town meeting (second Tuesday in March or May) and acting on all other business on another day to be chosen by the selectmen. This is often called a “bifurcated town meeting.” In choosing a day for the second (deliberative business) session, the selectmen are not bound to the time or day chosen in prior years.

Summary of Moderator’s Role at the Meeting
The moderator should take the following steps on each article in the warrant:

• Read the article in full.
• Always secure an affirmative motion and a second on the article. The motion need not be the same as the wording in the printed article as long as it is within the same general subject matter.
• Recognize the selectmen or person(s) responsible for giving the town meeting the necessary background on the article under consideration. • Open general discussion from the floor.
• After the conclusion of discussion, the motion should be restated, with a check to make sure its effect is generally understood.
• The vote should be taken and the outcome announced. If the vote is to be challenged, this is the appropriate time for action.

Moderators can be overruled by the town meeting. Whenever a voter indicates a desire to challenge the moderator’s ruling, the moderator should then poll the town meeting to determine whether that ruling is sustained.

Articles Requiring Two-Thirds Vote
Although most articles require a majority vote for passage, there are several for which state law explicitly requires a two-thirds vote:

• To change the purpose of a capital reserve fund.
• To issue bonds and notes other than tax anticipation notes.
• To approve an amendment to, or to repeal, a zoning ordinance after a signed protest of the owners of 20 percent of the area of lots included in the proposed change, or of those extending 100 feet directly opposite from the street frontage, or those immediately adjacent and extending 100 feet from the rear of the lot.

SB 2 Official Ballot Referendum System
If this option is adopted, the annual meeting consists of two sessions. SB 2 towns have the choice of March, April or May town meetings. For the March option, the first session, sometimes referred to as the “deliberative session,” is held “between the first and second Saturdays following the last Monday in January, inclusive of those Saturdays.” The second session takes place the second Tuesday in March. Within limits, the governing body prescribes the date and time of the first session.

The first session is conducted like the open business meeting of traditional town meeting, complete with the authority to discuss and amend all warrant articles, except those whose wording is prescribed by law and those required by statute to be voted on by official ballot. Although the first session has no authority to take final votes, it has the power to substantially amend warrant articles.

The second session consists of the election of officers and final voting on all articles in their amended form. It is run just like an election by official ballot, with no further opportunity for discussion or amendment.

Annual School Meeting
A meeting of every school district must be held annually between March 1 and March 25, inclusive, or in accordance with the SB 2 statute if adopted in the district, for raising and appropriating money for the support of schools for the fiscal year beginning the next July 1, for the transaction of other district business and, in those districts not electing their district officers at town meeting, for the choice of district officers. The school board chooses the date and prepares the warrant.