This spring, Barrington residents had the opportunity to propose changes to the individual line items in the municipal budget. That was not the case with the school budget, where any proposed change was to the total budget and not individual departments.

That could change if Barrington voters approve one of the four local questions planned for the Nov. 3 ballot. 

Back in July, three members of the Barrington Town Council voted to put four questions on the ballot — each of the questions pertain to the FTR, or financial town referendum. For years, Barrington had held a financial town meeting to set the annual budget, but some residents pushed for the FTR, hoping it would improve the participation rate. It did just that. This year’s FTR drew nearly 1,700 residents to the polls — that is about 10% of the town’s entire population. 

But while the FTR was deemed a success for increased turnout, some residents criticized it for other reasons, including an onerous signature requirement. Anyone who wants to propose an amendment to the budget of $50,000 or more is required to get the signatures of 2,856 registered Barrington voters. 

Question number 1 on the Nov. 3 ballot focuses on the signature requirement. If passed, it would require that all proposed budget amendments have 300 signatures from registered voters. That is a decrease from the 2,856 signatures required for changes of $50,000 or more, but it is an increase for amendments that propose changes of $50,000 or less. Currently, there is no signature requirement for proposed changes of $50,000 or less.  

Some residents spoke out against the signature requirement during the July 27 Barrington Town Council meeting. Joel Hellmann said that the new requirement would make it more difficult for the public to make a change to the proposed budget. 

“It’s a hard burden,” Hellmann said of the 300-signature requirement.

Another area of the FTR that has been criticized is the lack of a “reject” option for residents when they cast their ballots on the proposed budgets. Longtime Barrington resident Peter Clifford wrote about this in a recent letter to the editor: “The town budget is not accepted until the required tax levy is authorized. For both the prior Financial Town Meeting (FTM) and the current Financial Town Referendum (FTR), Section 7-1-2 of the Town Charter requires a vote of the registered voters to authorize the tax levy. At the first FTR, the registered voters were denied this power. We were not allowed to vote because the Town Council established a ballot which did not offer a specific tax levy to approve or reject.”

Question number 2 on the Nov. 3 ballot is an attempt to change that. The question opens the door for alternative budgets to be proposed — whichever budget receives the most votes would take effect. 

Question number three would impose a new limit upon residents. If passed, it would restrict residents to submitting no more than one proposed amendment to the budget. 

Question number 4 could change the status of the municipal budget. If approved, it would turn the municipal budget into a “bottom-line budget” similar to the school department budget. That means residents would not be able to propose changes to individual departments or line items in the municipal budget.