"Separation of powers was designed by our founding fathers for a reason-Defend It."
--Alan Tosti, Editor of the Assoc. of Town Finance Committee's Handbook, 2006.

The Acton Finance Committee, a town committee established under state law to review and comment on various proposals that come before Town Meeting, is not performing the role as envisioned by our Acton forefathers. Instead, it has been relegated to a "back bench" role which only performs a peripheral service in the town, rather than the important "check and balance" role as envisioned in state law and our town charter.

Acton is lucky to be a well-run and well-managed town. But as most people know, things tend to be cyclical. We won't always have experienced town administrators and wise Selectmen and School Committee members to guide us and make decisions. We have to make sure that we have processes and structures that work even when things aren't fine; for example, when we have financial, leadership, or personnel crises.

Having an effective Finance Committee is an important check and balance in town government. The Finance Committee provides that second look at local government spending that can save taxpayers money.

I've been on the FinCom for a couple of years, and even at the very beginning, I was bothered by the way FinCom appeared to operate in town government. In short, it played merely an advisory role; not making any decisions, not being taken very seriously. How FinCom deals with the annual town and school budgets are prime examples. Our job is to comment on the budgets and give a recommendation (positive or negative.) Like any citizen, we can propose an amendment to any motion at Town Meeting. So our power, in reality, is the power of the "bully pulpit." The power to speak. And that's it.

Even with my limited understanding of how government was supposed to work, this didn't seem right. My feelings seemed to be confirmed when I read the Mass General Laws (as quoted from the Assoc. of Town Finance Committees handbook)

Chapter 39, Section 16 of the general laws state: "Every town......shall....by by-law provide for the election or the appointment and duties of appropriation, advisory or finance committees, who shall consider any or all municipal questions for the purpose of making reports or recommendations to the town...".

The law then goes on to say "In every town having a committee appointed under authority of this section, such committee, or the selectmen if authorized by a by-law of the town, and, in any town not having such a committee, the selectmen, shall submit a budget at the annual town meeting."

In other words, unless no finance committee exists, or a by-law of the town specifically authorizes the selectmen to submit the budget, the budget at Town Meeting shall be submitted by the finance committee. I attended my first Mass. Municipal Association meeting (www.mma.org) about a year ago as a Finance Committee member, and had a great learning experience. What was most startling was how the Finance Committees in different towns had differing roles. In some towns, the Finance Committee seemed inactive. In other towns, the Finance Committee handled the town budget after it was prepared by the Town Manager. Based on reading the state law, it seemed that Acton's Finance Committee was not performing the full role as envisioned by state law, yet other towns' Finance Committees were doing things right.

But wait. State law does make reference to the fact that the Selectmen shall submit the budget if authorized by a by-law of the town. Does our town by-law authorize the Selectmen to submit the town budget at Town Meeting?

Here are the two sections of the Town Charter which deal with the Selectmen's role in the budget process. (There is no mention of the Selectmen and the budget in the by-laws.)

SECTION 6 - 2 Budget Estimates
The town manager shall submit to the selectmen and the finance committee, not less than one hundred days prior to the start of the annual town meeting (as defined in Town of Acton Bylaws Chapter A, Section A2), an estimate of the expenditures and revenues of the town for the next fiscal year.

SECTION 6 - 3 Selectmen's Budget Recommendations
The selectmen shall transmit a copy of their budget, together with their changes and recommendations, to each member of the finance committee not less than sixty days prior to the start of the annual town meeting (as defined in Town of Acton Bylaws Chapter A, Section A2).

Now maybe I missed it somewhere, but I don't see anything authorizing the Selectmen to submit the budget to Town Meeting. On the contrary, the charter seems to command the Town Manager to start the budget process, giving a report to the Selectmen and Finance Committees, and then for the Selectmen to refine the budget and give it to the Finance Committee, in plenty of time for the Finance Committee to work on the budget, finalize it, and submit it to Town Meeting.

You would think the Selectmen would be overjoyed to have help on one of their most time-consuming processes, dealing with the budget. Instead, they asked Town Counsel to defend the status quo, and Town Counsel dutifully complied. (LINK TO TOWN COUNSEL'S MEMO). Town Counsel seems to argue that because the word "their" is used before the word "budget" in Section 6-3, the budget is the Selectmen's to present to Town Meeting. If this is the best argument Town Counsel can come up with, it is clear that we are not following the proper process. In short, nowhere does it state that the Selectmen are to present the budget at Town Meeting; therefore, it is the Finance Committee's duty.

While presenting the budget might seem like not too big a deal, there is a lot behind it. It means that the Finance Committee must be able to defend the budget. They must know it, and agree with it, well enough to answer questions at Town Meeting. The budget at Town Meeting would be the Finance Committee's budget, not the Town Manager's or the Selectmen's.

So what should the Town do? The first step, as I see it, is to get the Finance Committee itself behind the idea that it should take on additional responsibility. If successful, this will mean more work for the FinCom members, but that's why we get the big bucks.

In November, 2006, that is exactly what I attempted to do. I made a presentation (LINK TO POWER POINT PRESENTATION DOCUMENT) outlining what I saw as the proper role of the Finance Committee, and how we should open a dialogue with the Selectmen to see if they would be willing to shift some of the budget burden to us. Maybe it's because of my charming personality or powers of persuasion, but I only got two positive votes for my suggestion.

But as one wise Finance Committee member told me after another failed attempt at getting the committee to do something, "Allen, it takes years to get things accomplished." I just hope my children will be around to see this important change happen.

If you wish to read a very nice overview of the history of finance committees and a nice summary of what other town finance committees do, I would refer you to the Town of Millbury. I captured their website information as of 11/2006: (LINK TO TOWN OF MILLBURY DOCUMENT).

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