Meet Warrant Committee Secretary Jean Wilson

As November budget deliberations in Milton are in sight on the calendar, Inside Town Hall features Jean Wilson, the Secretary of the Warrant Committee. Wilson shows her insight of the town's budget process and shares how community involvement at events like Town Meetings are so important in the local government.

What are some of your specific duties as secretary of the Warrant Committee?

Being secretary of the Warrant Committee encompasses many different responsibilities. Some of these responsibilities are serving on the Consolidated Facilities Department sub-committee as the liaison to the Warrant Committee; in this capacity I help prepare the warrant article which will explain to Town Meeting the purpose, organization, personnel and budget of this new and growing department for the next several fiscal years. I also serve as the secretary of this sub-committee.

I also serve as the chair for the General Government sub-committee for Fiscal Year 2013 budget planning purposes.  I lead the review of the budget requests for the departments covered under General Government (Assessors, Information Technology, Central Business Office, Selectmen, Town Clerk, Treasurer-Collector and Veterans’ Benefits). I contact each department head with questions involving their submitted budgets and invite them to meet with the entire Warrant Committee to review their budget requests.  I am also a member of the Library and Public Safety subcommittees.

I assist the Warrant Committee Chair, whenever and wherever needed.  This has entailed among other things running two recent Warrant Committee meetings. I write the article reports and comments for the Special Town Meeting warrant, meaning that I need to carefully review and analyze each article that is submitted to the Warrant Committee. Article comments and reports generally must be prepared and a recommendation voted on by the Warrant Committee at least 6 weeks prior to the date of the Special Town Meeting to meet publishing deadlines. I keep up to date on current happenings in government.  For example, I need to know when state budgets are published, when the Town is notified of state aid and expenses, when free cash is certified, etc.

I stay up to date on all this by reviewing certain websites such as the Department of Revenue, Massachusetts Municipal Association and PERAC. I also attend the annual Association of Town Finance Committee meeting for municipal budgeting education and upcoming municipal issues. And most importantly, I listen to the other members of the committee.  Every member of the committee brings different life experiences to the table.  Listening to them is how I get a balanced view on the various articles which come before the Warrant Committee.

What is your strategy for remaining fair and balanced when giving fiscal recommendations to the other boards and committees of the Town?

Depending on the expected amount of money available, the department heads are asked to present budgets to the Warrant Committee drafted on the same basis, (for example,  level dollar, level service, 1% above/below level dollar, level service, etc.)  Funds are then appropriated to each department equally on the chosen basis. To the extent funds remain which has not been appropriated, departments are asked what additional items in their budgets they would need funding for.  Additional appropriations are then voted.  Final recommendations are detailed in the warrant for Town Meeting to vote.

How did your residency in Milton motivate you to get involved with the committee?

Several years ago I attended a Special Town Meeting. I did not have prior participation in Town government other than voting, and was curious about what a Town Meeting was, and curious about the process.  

From attending that meeting I learned many things. Town Meeting members, elected by residents, are charged to represent the community fairly at Town Meeting. At Town Meeting, every member has a chance to express their opinion on an article in a respectful manner. A vote of the majority decides the fate of any particular article.

The clincher for me to get involved was a particularly sensitive Special Town Meeting whose outcome would greatly affect a certain community of the Town.  The meeting went on for several nights and I attended all sessions.  So many people stood before Town Meeting and passionately presented their views on this particular article. I saw that each person brought individual points of view and expressed pros and cons regarding the article that I had not thought about prior to the Special Town Meeting.  Had I not attended that meeting, I would not have had an understanding of the full effect of the passage of this article.

For my part, I knew that this process of government was something that I wanted to be involved in. Being a part of the Warrant Committee requires me to learn, listen and weigh many different viewpoints on each article that comes before Town Meeting.

What is one goal you hope to accomplish concerning the budget when the committees and boards file on November 1^st?

In these tough economic times, the goal I have for the fiscal year 2013 budget is to have enough funds to appropriate to each department on a similar basis with fiscal year 2012 and to have enough extra funds to appropriate to each department for special needs as requested. 

What do you think is the reason behind a lot of Milton’s financial stability during this economic time?

The reason is the Town’s willingness to work together, make hard economic decisions, explore new ways to save money, and to find additional sources of money. Over the last few years, the Warrant Committee has had to ask department heads to, in essence, ‘take a cut in their budgets’ by appropriating money on a level dollar budget.  Department heads have worked hard to do this.  

Town officials continue to explore ways to help bring in extra income as well as save money.  Several opportunities have come before the Town recently.  At the 2010 Special Town Meeting, the Stretch Energy Code was adopted. The adoption of the Stretch Energy code was a step towards the Town receiving a large financial grant.

The Town also has voted to explore alternate energy sources through a wind turbine. Once up and running the Town will not only be able to use this energy, but also sell some of it at a profit.

 For more information on Milton's Warrant Committee, visit http://www.townofmilton.org/Public_Documents/MiltonMA_BComm/WC/WC