Financial Articles at Lexington Town Meeting
One of the primary functions of the Town Meeting is the appropriation of money to be raised from various sources for the operation of the Town. The primary funding sources are property taxes, borrowing, enterprise funds, state aid, and other revenues. Funds for the fiscal year can be appropriated only by vote of the Town Meeting.
The Annual Town Meeting occurs at about two thirds of the way through a Fiscal Year. The Annual Town Meeting must consider and approve all appropriations for the coming fiscal year, which begins on July 1 following the Annual Town Meeting, and ends June 30 of the next year. For example, the 2012 Annual Town Meeting took place during Fiscal Year 2012 and approved the budget for Fiscal Year 2013, which began on July 1, 2012 and ended on June 30, 2013.
Under current practice, Article 4 on the Warrant of the Annual Town Meeting is the Operating Budget of the Town. This budget includes salaries and benefits of all Town employees, including school personnel, and operating expenses supplies, energy, postage, etc. for all departments of the Town. It also includes the cost of the Town's debt service and funding for the Town's pension system and the Reserve Fund.
Components of the operating budget of the Town are listed as separate line items. A separate vote is taken on a line item if a motion is made to amend, delete, or postpone it, or if it is divided into a separate main motion. After each line item has been read, all remaining unapproved items in the operating budget are voted as a whole.
Other financial articles on the Warrant may involve funds for special projects or capital projects involving major or unusual expenditures. There are also a few standard "housekeeping" articles that ask Town Meeting to approve routine transactions, or to make adjustments in budgets from prior fiscal years.
TODO: Anatomy of an appropriation.