The legislative powers of the town shall be vested in the Town Meeting.
The Annual Town Meeting shall be held on the first Monday of October of each year unless changed by vote of a town meeting or by referendum. Special meetings may be called by the Board of Selectmen, in the manner provided by the General Statutes, whenever it deems it necessary, or on a petition of not less than 100 electors, qualified to vote at town meetings, such meetings to be held within 21 days after such petition is received by the Selectmen. In order to expedite the petition process and ensure due representation, the Town Clerk shall provide the petitioner with guidelines.
The matters which the petitioners for a special town meeting desire acted upon, if they are legally proper subjects for action at a town meeting as determined by Town Counsel (at the request of the Selectmen), shall be put in proper form for the call of a town meeting and for a town meeting resolution with the assistance of the Town Counsel, if or when necessary, and those matters shall come first in the call of the meeting. The Board of Selectmen, at its discretion, may add other matters to the call of the meeting.
Legal notice of all town meetings shall be placed in a newspaper having circulation in Durham, and a copy posted on the bulletin board at the Town Hall, at least five (5) days prior to date of meeting. Warnings for town meetings shall be keyboarded and printed and a copy shall be filed with the Town Clerk in the Town Meeting Record Book. Warnings must contain place, date, and hour of meeting and list all articles to be acted upon.
The First Selectman shall call the meeting to order at the advertised time and the meeting shall choose a moderator. The Town Clerk or Assistant Town Clerk shall serve as clerk. In their absence, the meeting shall choose a clerk.
Electors of the town and other persons qualified to vote in accordance with the General Statutes may vote at town meetings. Unless otherwise required by this Charter, substantive town meeting action shall be by majority vote of those present and voting. Town meetings shall be conducted in accordance with procedures as set forth in the General Statutes and in the manual entitled "The Connecticut Town Meeting."
Adoption of the annual budget shall be by majority vote of those qualified to vote at the Annual Budget Meeting. The meeting shall have the power to decrease or delete any appropriation or item in an appropriation, but it may not increase or add to any appropriation or item in an appropriation, or make any appropriation for a purpose not recommended by the Board of Finance.
The Annual Budget Meeting shall be held at least 30 days prior to the end of the fiscal year. Said date shall be set at the Annual Town Meeting of the prior year or at a special town meeting.
Per Section 5.1.9 of this Charter, a special appropriation and a payment into or appropriation from the reserve fund for capital and nonrecurring expenditures, requiring town meeting approval, may be decreased by the town meeting but may not be increased. A town meeting may make no special appropriation or transfer of funds not recommended by the Board of Finance.
Section 3.5.1. 
Petition For Enactment of Ordinances. Not less than 100 electors, who are qualified to vote in a town meeting, may, at any time, petition over their personal signatures for the enactment of any proposed lawful ordinance by filing such petition, including the complete text of such ordinance, with the Town Clerk. The Selectmen shall call a special town meeting to be held within 21 days from the date of filing. A call for such meeting shall state the proposed ordinance in full and shall provide for a "yes" or "no" vote as to its enactment. If a majority of the persons entitled to vote voting at such meeting shall vote "yes," then such ordinance shall take effect, after it has been published in a newspaper having a general circulation in the town.
Section 3.5.2. 
Action on Ordinances. When the Board of Selectmen submits a proposed ordinance in accordance with Section 4.5 of this Charter, by vote of the town meeting the proposed ordinance may be adopted, or amended and adopted, or rejected. If adopted, said ordinance shall become effective on a date set by the town meeting or 30 days after adoption, but not before a notice of the ordinance has been published. Within 10 days after adoption of an ordinance, the Town Clerk shall cause to be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the town, a notice, which indicates that a copy of the ordinance is available at the Town Hall. The Town Clerk shall promptly record said ordinance in a book kept for that purpose.
Subject to the provisions of Section 3.7 of this Charter, the discontinuance of roads by the town, the sale or other disposition of real estate of the town used or reserved for town purposes, and except as provided in Section 4.6, the purchase or other acquisition of real estate for such purposes, shall require approval of a town meeting. The sale of real estate not used or reserved for town purposes shall be in accordance with an ordinance adopted by town meeting.
Any action of the town requiring 1) a special appropriation or the borrowing of $100,000 or more, or 2) the acquisition or taking of any property through Eminent Domain proceedings shall be the subject of a referendum conducted according to the General Statutes.