A Look Inside the Burlington May Town Meeting Warrant
The Burlington May Town Meeting Warrant is best viewed in sections. Take a look as the Buzz guides you through it.
Town Meeting Members and members of the public have 511 pages of documentation to go through ahead of the upcoming Town Meeting, and that's just the three main documents. We promised to take you through the Burlington May Town Meeting Warrant step-by-step, and today we continue that series.
The three main documents to keep handy when watching and/or participating in Town Meeting are the Warrant, the Warrant Backup, and (at the May, or Annual, town Meeting) the Budget Book. The Warrant, again, lists the legal text of the articles that are up for a vote; the backup holds the proponent's justification for each article. And, the budget book contains the proposed budget for each department.
When looking at large documents like this, many people benefit from looking at the structure to understand how the parts are related to one another, so that's what we'll do today.
The Burlington May Town Meeting Warrant is the shortest of the three documents and, once you get past the dry legalese, the most straightforward. In the coming days the Buzz will start to post summaries each article and you'll see what we mean. So, let's start there.
The Warrant begins with a letter from Town Counsel and ends with the Constable's report. (What's a constable?) The letter from Town Counsel affirms the Warrant's legality and calls out articles that require a 2/3 voting threshold. The Constable's report mandates that the Constable post the Warrant (it is a Warrant, after all, and needs to be served) and affirms it's been served to the Town Meeting Members and the Town Clerk.
Between those two letters is the main event: All the articles—in this case, some 64—that Town Meeting Members will be voting on:
- Article 1 is always where Town Officers and Committees will make presentations to Town Meeting. This could be an update, a look ahead, a report that was completed, or something else of that ilk. The list of presenters to Article 1 hasn't been released, but we'll keep you updated when it is.
- Financial articles are next, and they take up the bulk of the warrant in May, since this is the Annual Town Meeting where the budgets are set. Many of these are housekeeping articles that need to be approved each year, and thanks to the Backup provided, Town Meeting Members understand their purpose and voting usually goes quickly.
- But with Article 3, things get real. This is the funding of the operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year. This conversation will be supported by the Budget Book, and we'll go over the layout and contents of that book later. Town Meeting Members need to be familiar with this document before going in, but it's 126 pages and anyone with questions will want a highlighter or similar to mark questions you have so they're easy to find. If the past is any indication:
- Department budgets will be "held" if a member wants to discuss them further.
- Any items that aren't held will be approved together.
- Questions about held items will be posed and those items will be approved individually.
- Article 7 is another bulky one; it contains all the capital warrant articles. These are financial requests from departments that, if approved, will be funded outside the general operating budget. Generally this is for large, one-time expenditures. Some examples this time around are:
- A Rescue ATV for the Fire Department
- A traffic light at Winn Street & Mountain Road
- Revamping the bathrooms and locker rooms at Marshall Simonds Middle School
There are many more capital articles, but that's the general flavor of what to expect. Some of these articles will pass easily with little discussion; others will prompt many questions and much debate.
After the capital requests, there are still 22 financial articles to go; some of them—like accepting funds from the state—are routine, and others—like authorizing borrowing for the Police Station Building Project—are sure to generate much discussion before the body feels comfortable voting.
Following the financial articles are General Articles and Zoning Bylaw Articles. (There are no General Bylaw articles this time around, but there often are.)
- This time there is a single General Article, which proposes converting the Town Clerk position from elected to appointed.
- There are a handful of Zoning Bylaw Articles, including the MBTA Communities Overlay which has been discussed at length in town over the last several months; this is sure to engender much debate, as well.
This year’s Annual Town Meeting will begin on Monday, May 13, at 7:00 PM and will continue on Wednesday and Monday evenings until the entire Warrant has been reviewed. Stay tuned to the Buzz for summaries of the articles in the Town Meeting Warrant and how Town Meeting votes on each.