A handful of Barrington residents who carefully monitor the annual budget process in town are sounding an alarm this year.

Some of the concerns surround Barrington’s move from the financial town meeting (FTM) process to the new financial town referendum (FTR). 

Residents at the budget hearing at the town hall on Wednesday night, April 8, spoke about a reduction in taxpayer power and an increase in red tape residents now face when they try to get involved in the budget approval process. 

No longer do Barrington residents have the ability to vote down a petition to exceed the state-mandated 4% tax levy cap. Also gone is the opportunity to propose an amendment on the day of the FTR. The taxpayers also said they are frustrated that there will be only one ballot option while voting on the budget at the financial town referendum: Approve. There is no option for “Reject” on the ballot. (Only one "Approve" vote is needed to pass the budget.)

And near the top of the list of complaints was the new requirement to collect nearly 3,000 signatures from registered voters in town in order to submit an amendment that would alter the budget by more than $50,000.

Longtime Barrington resident Joel Hellmann called that requirement an egregious example of voter suppression. 

Hellmann said that people need only 1,000 signatures to run for a state office, such as governor. Hellmann said it was clear what town officials’ intentions were when they made the change from FTM to FTR. 

Another longtime Barrington resident Peter Clifford offered a reminder to town officials during the April 8 hearing. Clifford said Barrington went from zero signatures needed to propose a budget change last year, to 3,000 signatures needed this year.  

Janine Wolf, who regularly attends council meetings, said the town’s shift from FTM to FTR this year was done under the pretext of increasing democracy, allowing more people to get involved. She said that is not the case, however. Wolf said no one is going to vote on the budget at the FTR because there is only one choice. Voters have no option to reject the proposed budget, she said.

Paige Barbour attended the budget hearing on Wednesday night and shared her concerns about the new FTR process with members of the Barrington Committee on Appropriations. Later that night in a message to the Barrington Times, Barbour summarized the budget situation: “…unbeknownst to residents, the shift from FTM to FTR  allows the Town Council, by a slim margin, to vote to exceed to spending cap. Second, because that decision is made by Town Council, residents aren’t able to vote against exceeding the cap. In fact, the FTR is solely a vote to approve the budget…not an opportunity to vote against it.”

During the meeting, COA member John Stafford suggested to residents that it may be easier to lobby members of the Barrington Town Council or Barrington School Committee to submit an amendment to reduce the proposed budget. Neither the council nor the school committee are required to collect thousands of signatures to propose an amendment. 

Hellmann offered a quick response to Stafford’s idea: Hellmann said he has never met a school committee or town council that would willingly ask for less money. 

COA Chair Cynthia Rosengard said the current council had reduced the budget increase when it voted earlier this week on a less expensive refuse and recycling collection contract. 

Wolf challenged that statement. She said that the council actually reduced the trash collection service and then reappropriated half of the nominal savings to a gas and diesel fuel account in the budget and the other half (less than $40,000) in budget savings on a $23.6 million budget.

Barrington resident Tom Rimoshytus asked members of the committee on appropriations to put in a recommendation for the budget to stay under the 4% tax levy cap. He also said a lot of Barrington residents still believe that they have the power to vote on whether the town should exceed the tax levy cap. 

Barrington resident Robert Sowada told members of the COA that the FTR offers only one option on the ballot, and therefore it is not an actual vote. He said town officials have already made the decision that they are approving this budget. 

Explanation

Dan O’Mahony, a member of the town’s board of canvassers, said that the vote requirement for placing an amendment — calling for signatures from 20 percent of the registered voters — was a decision made by the previous town council. He said the charter review commission had suggested a much lower number of required signatures. 

Officials also reminded residents that there numerous opportunities to get involved in the budget process in town — they can attend meetings of the COA and town council and school committee.