LIVERMORE FALLS – Selectmen are exploring options on setting up a budget committee with a formalized structure.

So far only two people have shown interest in being on the committee if one is formed, Board Chairman Julie Deschesne said Monday.

Selectmen are charged with reviewing information in their packets on how other towns’ budget committees work prior to the next meeting and to make suggestions to Town Manager Martin Puckett so that they can be discussed.

Anyone interested in being on a budget committee should contact Puckett at 897-3321.

Both Selectmen Bill Demaray and Russell Flagg favor a year-round budget committee with members appointed and attending at least one selectmen’s meeting a month to know what issues face the town.

“We need them to be involved year-long and know what’s going on,” Demaray said.

Demaray said selectmen would have to decide how many members should be on the committee.

“We need a certain number of people so there is not chaos,” he said. “If it is too small, it won’t work. If it is too big, it won’t work. You have to find a happy medium.”

Demaray said he would set the committee up like the Planning Board with staggered terms.

Puckett said he wants to keep everyone informed and suggested holding budget review with department heads with selectmen and budget committee members at the same time.

That would be OK if it was an informational meeting, Demaray said, but what’s happened in the past was the two boards would get together and talk about the pros and cons and they didn’t get to the bottom line.

When they tried to do it all together there tended to be too much talk about views and opinions and not enough about the budget, he said.

Flagg suggested they look at other towns to see how the budget committees are structured.