Representative town meeting

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A Representative Town Meeting is a form of municipal legislature used in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont.

Representative Town Meetings function largely the same as an Open Town Meeting, except that not all registered voters can participate or vote. The townspeople instead elect Town Meeting Members by precinct to represent them and to vote on the issues for them, much like a U.S. Representative votes on behalf of his or her constituents in Congress.

[edit] Massachusetts

Massachusetts towns having at least 6,000 residents may adopt a Representative Town Meeting system through the normal charter-change process. Depending on population, a town may have anywhere from 45 to 240 Town Meeting Members. Framingham, the largest town in the state by population, has 216 representatives in Town Meeting, twelve from each precinct.

[edit] New Hampshire

NH RSA 49-D-3 III. provides for Representative Town Meeting, though no town has adopted this form of government. The representative town meeting is similar to that of the Town Council form of government, which acts under a charter and is the legislative and governing board of the town, but have different requirements for their respective charters.

The representative town meeting follows the procedures of a regular town meeting, and have the authority to address all matters which can be legally addressed at the annual or a special town meeting. Those matters which the law or charter states must be placed on the official ballot of the town, cannot be decided by the representative meeting. To have a representative town meeting, the town must approve a charter which includes the following:

the manner of district representation
the manner of filling vacancies
powers of nomination, appointment, and confirmation
requirements for attendance and quorum
any domicile or eligibility requirements of up to one year in the town or district and continued domicile during term
specific procedures for the preparation, presentation, public hearing, and adoption of annual budgets and designation of a fiscal year
an annual municipal election date pursuant to RSA 669:1
bonding of certain town officials and employees where not required by general law
requirements for periodic independent audits of all town financial matters by a certified public accountant.