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Motion to note $1.25M use of unassigned fund balance in town report fails
Summary
A proposal to add a footnote to the town report stating the selectboard used $1,250,000 of unassigned fund balance to lower the tax rate failed on a 3–7 roll call; members debated whether that disclosure belongs in the Budget Committee report or selectboard materials.
During review of the draft town report, a committee member moved to add a sentence noting that $1,250,000 of previously collected unassigned fund balance was used to reduce the tax rate. After discussion about whether that content belonged in the budget committee’s report or the selectboard’s narrative, the motion failed on roll call (3 yes, 7 no as recorded in the transcript).
Proponents said the transaction materially affected the reported tax rate and voters should understand what had been returned to citizens; opponents argued the decision was made by the selectboard and that the budget committee’s report did not need to replicate selectboard action. Several members urged clearer, repeated footnoting in printed materials to help readers distinguish 'all funds' numbers (county, school and municipal) from the municipal operating fund and the default budget.
