Do you live in a SB2 town?

It’s town meeting season in New Hampshire.  For some municipalities, that means an all-day town meeting, debating the issues and voting on a final budget.

For municipalities that have adopted SB2 procedures, the meeting and the voting happen on different days.  Under SB2, towns hold a deliberative session, basically a public meeting where residents can debate and revise the annual budget proposal.  The proposal that comes out of that meeting is then placed on the ballot on election day.  If the proposal does not pass, the town uses a default budget calculated by formula.

Supporters of SB2 argue that it gives more residents the chance to vote on the budget, since it can be difficult to commit to an all-day town meeting.

Opponents of SB2 argue that it is too easy for a small number of residents to hijack the deliberative session, radically changing the budget for a special interest.

This year, the legislature is considering HB 1375 as a way of trying to resolve this problem.  The bill would enable towns to come up with their own ways of modifying SB2 procedures for amending and passing budgets, as long as those rules still include an open meeting for deliberating and a day for ballot voting.  HB 1375 passed the House and now heads to the Senate.

Do you live in a town with SB2 procedures?  Share your thoughts on the process in the comments.