Gilford: special meeting

The Board of Selectmen have taken the opportunity presented by a petition to move the vote on the Town Warrant from March to May to consider also changing the start of the town's fiscal year from January 1 to July 1.

Joanne McNulty, a former member of the Budget Committee, submitted a petition to the board for a special town meeting to consider rescheduling election day. The official ballot law — Senate Bill 2 (SB2) — which the town adopted last year, allows towns to hold their meeting in the second week or either April or May rather than March. McNulty said her aim was to separate the proceedings of the town from the school district, particularly to avoid the joint deliberative session, which this year stretched for more than six hours. She also agreed that more seasonal residents would be able to participate if the vote was held in May.

Selectman Kinney O'Rourke confirmed that the board could place additional articles on the warrant of the special town meeting and suggested it might be "advisable to capitalize on this opportunity to also propose a change in the fiscal year." Insisting that he had an open mind on the issue, O'Rourke urged his colleagues to discuss the question with the town officials who would be affected by it, especially the Town Administrator, Finance Director and Town Clerk/Tax Collector, in order to weight the advantages and disadvantages of the change.

Both selectmen Dennis Doten and Alice Boucher agreed. "We need to do some thinking outside the box about how to make this happen," said Doten.

In the past, town officials have resisted any change in the fiscal year because of the one-time cost of budgeting and taxing for an 18-month fiscal year to make the transition.

Richard Campbell, who has long championed changing the fiscal year, expressed concern that "there will be two days every spring, one for the school district and another for the town and that would be a tragedy."

He suggested that board approach the school district about also holding a special meeting to change the voting day, adding that the decisions of the town and school district could be may contingent on one another.

The board agreed to meet with the Town Administrator, Finance Director and Town Clerk/Tax Collector "to fully explore the ramifications of the issue," as O'Rourke put it, and prepare a report and recommendations by April 13. Meanwhile, Interim Town Administrator Evans Juris said that the town's attorney was preparing a timeline for the special town meeting, which would follow the SB2 format.