In 1870, a group of Quincy citizens banded together to restore fiancial order in their municipality, creating the Commonwealth’s fist fiance committee. In 1910, the Massachusetts courts ruled that a municipal fiance committee was legal (Sinclair v. Fall River, 198 Mass 248). In that same year, the Massachusetts General Court also acknowledged the need for municipal fiance committees statewide, requiring all but the smallest municipalities to establish such committees to assist in dealing with emerging municipal challenges (St 1910, Ch. 130, s 2). Several additional legislative assists (i.e., St 1923, Ch. 388 and St 1929, Ch. 270), reinforced the mandated or permitted existence of municipal finance committees.


Massachusetts General Law, chapter 39
Section 16. Every town whose valuation for the purpose of apportioning the state tax exceeds one million dollars shall, and any other town may, by by-law provide for the election or the appointment and duties of appropriation, advisory or finance committees, who shall consider any or all municipal questions for the purpose of making reports or recommendations to the town; and such by-laws may provide that committees so appointed or elected may continue in office for terms not exceeding three years from the date of appointment or election.
In every town having a committee appointed under authority of this section, such committee, or the selectmen if authorized by a by-law of the town, and, in any town not having such a committee, the selectmen, shall submit a budget at the annual town meeting.


Budget preparation And submission
The prime functions of the finance committee are to review departmental budgets and submit a balanced budget to town meeting. All municipal officers authorized to spend money must annually provide the finance committee with estimates of how much funding will be needed “for the proper maintenance of the departments under their jurisdiction.” These estimates are submitted to the town accountant, or if there is none, to the finance committee or possibly the selectmen (Chapter 42 s.59 M.G.L.). These estimates are used in the
preparation of a town’s annual operating and capital budgets. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) has ruled that finance committees are responsible for preparing and submitting their municipality’s annual budget (Chapter 39 s 16, Ch. 41, s 59 and s 60M.G.L.), unless there is a charter or
bylaw giving this authority to the board of selectmen or town manager (DOR’s In Our Opinion, 93-310). The exact format of an annual town budget is community specific. DOR has determined that while the law regarding annual municipal budget format is directed to cities, it should also be followed by towns.
The format found in the law addresses itself to budgetary basics. Almost all towns and cities in the Commonwealth go well beyond this in their annual budget presentation package (see Chapter 2). DOR has also ruled that only a town meeting — not the finance committee or selectmen — may determine the exact budget format to be used (see In Our Opinion, 92-145). As a practical matter, town meeting
would have to vote to reject the present format and request anew one for the following year.

Was Town Meeting asked to change the traditional budget format? If they were not asked, by what authority did the selectmen have to change the format? Has it resulted in less clarity concerning Taxpayer money?