My understanding of the role of the finance committee is to review all money expenditure requests from the town boards, and the town offices, and the citizens petitions, and present to the voters the financial ramifications of the decisions the voters are about to make. I don’t think they usually offer an opinion in favor of or against the proposed expenditures. That is really up to the voters to decide once they understand the ramifications.
If my understanding of the role of the finance committee is correct, I would prefer to see it as an appointment by the Moderator. You really don’t want a member of the finance committee to be lobbying in favor of lower taxes. They are just supposed to explain the ramifications and let the voters decide what they want to do. Therefore the appointments should be based on financial expertise rather than political considerations. It is true that the finance committee recommends spending guideline. They also hold a hearing which citizens may attend and criticize what they are proposing. With regard to any mishandling of financial issues with Hanscom schools, the finance committee doesn’t handle that sort of detail. That detail is handled by the financial staff, which reports to the selectmen already. This is my understanding of the situation anyway. If I have made mistakes, I’m sure someone will correct me and I will be happy to be enlightened. Ruth Ann (She, her, hers) -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected]. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
