Town Meeting Information

Town Meeting

Millville is governed by a unique New England institution, the Town Meeting. It is still considered one of the purest examples of democratic government. All voters present at the Annual Town Meeting act as a legislative body, vote on the budget, authorize capital expenditures, make, amend, or repeal the by-laws and approve or reject changes in the administrative structure or procedures. The Town Meeting also authorizes the borrowing of money and the issuing of notes or bonds. Millville’s Annual Town Meeting is held the second Monday in May in the Millville Elementary School Auditorium. Special Town Meetings may be called throughout the year by the Selectmen or by petition of a certain percent of the registered voters. The Town Meeting voters are the final authority for town affairs, unlike the voters of larger towns who elect representatives to act as their legislators.

Town Meeting Warrant

The Warrant for the Town Meeting is drawn up by the Board of Selectmen and must be publicly posted in designated places at least seven days prior to the Annual Town Meeting, and fourteen days prior to a Special Town Meeting. This document announces the date, time, and place of the meeting, and lists the articles to be discussed and voted upon. Warrant articles may be introduced by the Board of Selectmen, the various Town boards or departments, or by a petition of registered voters.

Town Meeting Procedures

As citizens enter the meeting place their names and voting eligibility are verified by the Town Clerk's staff. Those not eligible to vote are seated in a separate section. Certain individuals play a prominent role at Town Meeting. The Town Moderator is on the stage of the auditorium and presides over and regulates the proceedings at Town Meetings. He decides all questions of order, and makes public declaration of all votes. The Town Clerk is seated in front of the stage and is the chief election official and recording secretary of the meeting. During Town Meeting she records the vote on each article. The Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee sit at tables on the sides of the Town Moderator. As the chief executive body of the Town, the Selectmen may or may not speak to each article, depending on the issues involved.

The Finance Committee, some months before Annual Town Meeting in May, meet with the town officers, department heads, and boards who each prepare an operating budget for submission. This Committee's function is to scrutinize items in the department budgets and recommend acceptance, reduction, postponement, or elimination. The Finance Committee will endorse the amended general budget which includes all projected operating expenses. The Finance Committee speaks to each financial warrant article.

How to Participate

To address the meeting a voter should raise his/her hand and ask to be recognized by the Moderator. If/when authorized to do so, he/she should proceed to the microphone in front of the stage and state his or her name and address. He/she may discuss the question, make or amend a motion, pose a question of order, or ask for information. A voter may address the Moderator on any warrant article. Amendments can be offered and will be voted on individually. If you are considering making an amendment, the Moderator recommends that you speak with him in advance of Town Meeting to make sure that the proposed amendment is properly worded and falls within the scope of the Warrant article in question. After discussion on the amendment, the Moderator calls for a vote on the amendment only. If passed, the original motion as amended is voted upon. Amendments to amendments will generally be ruled out of order. Motions or amendments which differ materially and are beyond the scope of those printed in the Warrant will be ruled out of order.

Voting

Unless otherwise provided, all motions require a majority vote to carry. All zoning questions require a 2/3 vote in the affirmative to carry. In Declaring the Vote the Moderator decides the sense of the meeting by a hand/voice vote. If he is in doubt, or, if the decision is questioned, a counting hand vote may be called for. If seven voters question a vote, a counting hand vote must be taken.