Little Compton to Hold Informational Session on Financial Town Meeting

On April 8, Little Compton voters will get a chance to learn about the rules, procedures and history of the Financial Town Meeting in Little Compton.

  Little Compton's Financial Town Meeting (FTM) is still two months away, but on April 8 voters will get a chance to learn about the rules, procedures and history of the annual meeting that authorizes their town's budget. Little Compton Town Moderator Larry Anderson will lead the public informational session about the FTM at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 8, at the Little Compton Town Hall, 40 Commons. Anderson's presentation will focus on the rules and procedures used during the town's FTM. In addition, he will discuss the history of the town meeting as well as FTM alternatives and reforms other communities have adopted.  In November 2011 Tiverton voters stepped away from the FTM, instead voting to utilize the procedures of a Financial Town …

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Little Compton Budget Approved Amid 'One Vote Fits All' Concern

With a 0.94 property tax rate increase, a few Little Compton voters questioned the process of approving all line items in one group vote.

Residents approved the $12.2 million Little Compton fiscal 2012-13 budget at Tuesday night's financial town meeting (FTM), but not after some concern raised over the procedure. On July 1 the property tax rate will increase 0.94 percent to $5.38 per $1,000 of assessed value, and the total tax levy will increase 1.49 percent. Quorum was reached at approximately 7:06 p.m. in the Wilbur-McMahon School gymnasium and the FTM lasted about an hour and 10 minutes. According to dispatcher Russell Wordell, approximately 170 voters attended out of 2,975 active registered. The recently approved school bond will reportedly have no impact on the next fiscal budget or that year's property taxes. After voters approved the first six FTM articles, also …

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Letter to the Editor

Letter: Little Compton Needs 149 Voters For Financial Town Meeting Quorum

Larry Anderson, Little Compton Town Moderator, writes a letter to the editor.

To the Editor: Little Compton’s annual Financial Town Meeting will take place on Tuesday, May 22, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Wilbur-McMahon School Auditorium/Gymnasium. (Doors open at 6 p.m.; elections for two seats on the Budget Committee will also be taking place that evening.) Among Rhode Island communities that approve their budgets and levy taxes at a Financial Town Meeting, Little Compton can boast one of the highest percentages of voter participation. But the town’s Home Rule Charter establishes a minimum quorum for a town meeting: five percent of registered voters, or, this year, 149 voters. Some years we have achieved a quorum by only a modest margin. The Financial Town Meeting offers voters a right and an opportunity that is not …

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Little Compton Posts Report to Taxpayers on Proposed Budget

The financial town meeting is Tuesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. in the Wilbur-McMahon gymnasium.

Little Compton Town Council President Robert Mushen posted the town's report to taxpayers on the current and proposed budget. The .pdf report is attached to this post. The Budget Committee meets tonight at 6 p.m. at Town Hall to go over its final budget proposal. The financial town meeting is Tuesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. in the Wilbur-McMahon School gymnasium. Patch interviewed Little Compton Budget Committee Chairman Scott Morrison last week, who talked about the careful reductions and trending factors in the budget planning process.

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