Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Charter Amendment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee takes testimony on Barrie charter amendment to remove elected auditor
Summary
The Senate Committee on Government Operations on May 6 heard testimony on H.505, a charter amendment from the town of Barrie to repeal the elected office of auditor from the town charter. Legislative counsel told the committee the change cleans up charter language though similar authority exists under general law.
The Senate Committee on Government Operations took testimony May 6 on H.505, a charter amendment submitted by the town of Barrie to repeal provisions in the town charter that provide for an elected auditor.
Representative McFaughn introduced the measure and Trevor Anderson of the Legislative Council summarized the changes, saying the act "repeals the section that allows the auditor to be elected" and performs clean-up across the charter to remove references to the office. Anderson told the committee these charter changes were passed by the town at its May annual meeting the previous year.
Anderson explained that striking language from a charter "doesn't always change the existence of an office" if general law requires election of that office; he said Title 17 already allows municipalities to eliminate the office of auditor through a town vote, and that a prior statewide law permits temporary suspension of charter provisions for three-year periods. "So this wasn't strictly legally necessary," Anderson said, but the proposed charter edits remove a mandate that would otherwise be unique to Barrie and reduce confusion.
Senator Allison Clarkson asked whether the town of Barrie had similar arrangements for other elected officials; counsel and the representative confirmed other elected posts remain and that the town's action was intended to modernize the charter language. Committee members described the testimony as straightforward and requested that representative offices provide vote totals and related documentation for the committee record.
Why this matters: Repealing the charter references to an elected auditor aligns the local charter with how the town has been operating and with general law options, simplifying local procedures and removing a redundant provision from the charter.
Ending: Committee discussion concluded without a final committee vote recorded in the transcript; the record shows that staff will collect town vote totals and related documents for the committee report.
