LIVERMORE — At their Oct. 12 meeting, Selectpersons set Dec. 17 as the date for department heads to submit their proposed 2022 budgets.

Selectpersons also scheduled Jan. 11 and 13 to meet with the Budget Committee. If needed, another meeting could be held the following week.

At the last Town Meeting, voters approved changing the date of the annual Town Meeting to April.

Traditionally the Budget Committee has met with Selectpersons on Wednesdays in March, Selectperson Scott Richmond said. Those dates would need to change, he said.

A tentative date for Town Meeting has been set for April 26, Administrative Assistant Aaron Miller said. That’s when Jay typically does theirs, coupled with the Regional School Unit 73 budget vote, he noted.

Should a referendum style Town Meeting be held, the last day to hold the required public meeting would be April 15, Miller said. His original suggestion was to begin the budget meetings the end of January. Only two meetings with the Budget Committee were needed this year, he noted.

There wasn’t a lot of debate this year, Selectperson Tracey Martin said. She wasn’t sure the same would be true this year, given the Budget Committee’s unhappiness with the Selectpersons’ decision.

Selectpersons voted in April to hold a referendum style Town Meeting after residents voiced concerns about holding an open meeting because of the coronavirus pandemic.

With a referendum style Town Meeting, recommendations can’t be included, Miller said.

“There’s no reason we still have to do a referendum style Town Meeting,” Selectperson Brett Deyling said. “The way it used to be was better in my opinion, discuss things in an open meeting.”

Holding meetings with the Budget Committee on three nights in one week was suggested by Deyling.

“Knock it out, instead of trying to meet every week on a Wednesday. Get it done,” he said.

Selectperson Mark Chretien suggested meeting Tuesday and Thursday with another meeting the following week if needed.

That gives time if there’s a huge storm, Martin said.

Department heads can start crunching their numbers the beginning of December, Miller said.

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