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Tamworth Select Board schedules July 15 hearing to ratify March town meeting under RSA 31:5-b
Summary
The Select Board set a special town meeting for July 15 to ratify the results of the March town meeting after staff failed to post a required form; the hearing will have a single article to ratify the March results.
The Tamworth Select Board voted to hold a special town meeting at 6 p.m. July 15 at the town house to ratify the results of the March town meeting after officials discovered a required posting form was not posted.
Select Board chair Ned called the session a “procedural defect meeting,” citing RSA 31:5‑b and said the single article on the July warrant will ask voters to "ratify the results of the March" meeting despite the posting error.
The board said the error involved two forms that must be posted and that only one was posted. Town staff learned of the omission after contacting the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration and were told to correct the posting via the procedural‑defect process. A select board member said the department described the issue as a routine remedy, not an instruction to void March’s results.
Board members and residents asked what would happen if voters reject ratification. A select board member cautioned that a “no” vote could force the town to repeat the meeting process and said that would likely be costly; board members estimated the expense of holding the additional meeting in the hundreds of dollars for newspaper posting and staff time. The board cited a prior instance in 2019 when eight voters cast "no" votes on a similar procedural action.
The board agreed to post clear directions for attendees at the regular meeting location so anyone who arrives at the wrong place will be directed to the town house. The board also discussed logistics for accommodating a possible request for a secret ballot; members said paper ballots could be reused from March if available because the special meeting will include only one article.
The board took no other action at the time and closed the public hearing segment.
Why it matters: Ratifying the March meeting through the procedural‑defect process preserves the town’s prior actions while addressing a state posting requirement. If voters decline to ratify, the town could face redoing votes and related costs.
