The Budget Process

Our budget year runs from July 1 to June 30. 

The budget is created by four town boards.  The Board of Selectmen creates a budget that covers the Town’s operating expenses for the year.  The Capital Projects Committee creates a wish list of capital projects and submits it to the Selectmen to be added to their budget, and the Board of Education creates a budget for the schools.  The Selectmen’s and School budgets are then reviewed by the Board of Finance .  They can make specific recommendations on the Selectmen’s budget, but can only make general recommendations about the level of spending in the school budget.

The Board of Finance always has a public hearing* before adopting the budget.  After they adopt it, it must be ratified by a Town Meeting.

The Town Meeting can reduce or eliminate specific items in the Selectmen’s budget, but it can only reduce the overall total allocated to the schools.  It also has the option of sending the final budget vote out for a referendum.  A referendum has the advantage of getting more voters to participate in the decision, and the disadvantage of eliminating meaningful discussion about the specific items included in the budget.  A referendum involves a number of paid poll workers, and costs the town about $6000.

All board meetings are open to the public, but the public can only speak at a public hearing, a town meeting, or in a meeting that has ‘public comment’ on its agenda.  You can find the time and location of the board meetings on the Town website:  www.townoflitchfield.org.  Use this link to look at our current and previous town budgets.