[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting
of the Town of Townsend 4-3-1893 by Art. 18. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Amended 4-11-1910 ATM by Art. 13; 3-27-1911
ATM by Art. 16; 3-1-1965 ATM by Art. 18; 11-5-1973 STM by Art. 7;
4-27-1981 ATM by Art. 22; 4-29-1997 ATM by Art. 22; 2-9-1999 STM by
Art. 8]
The election of Town officers will be held on
the fourth Monday in April each calendar year and that the Town Meeting
for the transaction of business and other matters which are required
to be determined, to be held on the first Tuesday of May.
[Amended 3-27-1911 ATM by Art. 15; 11-5-1973
STM by Art. 7]
The financial year of the Town, for all departments
of the Town, shall commence on the first day of July and end the 30th
day of June each year.
[Amended 4-27-1982 ATM by Art. 47; 4-27-1983
ATM by Art. 26; 4-28-1990 ATM by Art. 6]
The annual report of the Town officers shall
be available at Memorial Hall and other public places, at least one
week before the Annual Town Meeting.
No action shall be had at any Town Meeting on
the report of any committee previously chosen, unless the subject
matter shall be specified in the warrant calling such meeting.
[Added 4-5-1909 ATM by Art. 18; amended 4-11-1910
ATM by Art. 10]
The Town Treasurer shall keep a complete set
of books wherein shall be entered the amount of each specified appropriation
and the orders that have been drawn against it; shall, when any appropriation
has been wholly expended, immediately make a report of the fact to
the Selectmen and the head of the department under whose direction
the work for which the appropriation was made is carried on; at the
close of each order day or as soon thereafter as practicable, he shall
send to the Selectmen and the head of the department having the disbursement
of the appropriation a statement of the balance of each appropriation
remaining subject to draft; he shall, in his annual report, give a
detailed statement of all receipts and expenditures of the Town for
the past financial year, giving the amount of each specific appropriation,
showing to whom paid, the amount and object of the expenditures therefrom,
the receipts from each source of income, the change, if any, in the
Town debt, and shall include a list of all debts incurred and not
paid, up to and including December 31 of each year, showing to whom
due, for what due and the amounts. Said statement shall be arranged,
as far as practicable, to conform to the schedule of the Division
of Municipal Statistics of the Bureau of Statistics of the Commonwealth.
[Added 3-2-1936 ATM by Art. 28; amended 4-28-1998 TM by Art.
24; 5-1-2001 ATM by Art. 38; 5-6-2008 ATM by Art. 22; 12-20-2018 STM by Art. 28]
Notice of all Town Meetings shall be given by
posting an attested copy of the warrant thereof at Memorial Hall at
the Center 272 Main Street, the Police Station, 70 Brookline Road,
Harbor Fire Station, 47 Main Street, West Townsend Reading Room, 264
Dudley Road, and Harbor Church, 80 Main Street, in said Townsend,
seven days at least before the time of holding the said meeting. Note:
MGL c. 39, § 10 specifies Special Town Meetings require
14 days before for posting of the warrant.
[Added 3-2-1959 ATM by Art. 25; amended 3-13-1967 ATM by Art.
34; 3-8-1971 ATM by Art. 41; 11-18-2008 STM by Art. 14]
The number of voters necessary to constitute
a quorum at Town Meeting, except such parts as are devoted exclusively
to the election of Town officers, shall be 75, provided that a number
less than a quorum may from time to time adjourn the same.
[Added 3-1-1965 ATM by Art. 32; amended 11-5-1973
STM by Art. 7; 4-28-1980 ATM by Art. 46; 4-29-1997 ATM by Art. 39]
No subject shall be inserted in the warrant
for the Annual Town Meeting unless the requests therefor are made
in the manner and form required by the General Laws, as amended, and
unless the said requests are submitted to the Selectmen on or before
the first day of March next prior to the date of the Annual Town Meeting.
[Added 5-4-1999 ATM by Art. 22]
On matters requiring a two-thirds or nine-tenths
vote, an actual count need not be taken unless the vote so declared
is immediately questioned by the Moderator or seven or more voters
as provided in MGL c. 39, § 15.
