It is Town Meeting Day in Vermont, a time when school and community budgets are decided and community leaders are chosen in a centuries-old tradition of discussion and debate at town halls across the state.
While the first Tuesday in March is traditionally the day when Vermonters discuss town issues, some communities have already held their annual meeting. Some, like Tinmouth, approved their school and other budgets over the weekend. Others, like Proctor and Springfield, held meetings Monday evening. But most hold Town Meeting today.
There have often been non-binding resolutions on statewide and national issues on Town Meeting ballots. But this year few such issues surfaced, and most resolutions are very localized, according to Burlington Free Press state news columnist Sam Hemingway.
Middlebury College Associate Professor of Political Science Bert Johnson characterizes this Town Meeting Day as somewhat quiet, from a statewide perspective.
V-T Digger dot org Reporter Andrew Stein is finding that this year Vermonters are particularly concerned about education budgets as Montpelier considers a five cent education fund tax increase.
An Australian Ballot is defined by Merriam Webster as “an official ballot....distributed only at the polling place and marked in secret.”
Town Meetings will conclude by 7 o’clock this evening.
