Budget Process

The Town of Lexington operates under state statutes and the Town Charter as amended to establish the Selectmen - Town Manager form of government.  The legislative body of Lexington is a representative Town Meeting comprised of approximately 200 elected Town Meeting Members.  Town Meeting has the sole authority to appropriate funds for the operating budget and capital projects.  Under the amended Town Charter, the Town Manager is required to submit a proposed budget to the Board of Selectmen.  The Selectmen in turn are required to transmit to the Appropriation and Capital Expenditures committees a copy of the Recommended Budget together with their recommendations.  Finally, the Appropriations and Capital Expenditures committees must each make budget recommendations to Town Meeting. 

At a series of working summit meetings the boards and the financial committees discuss budget issues and provide policy guidance to the Town and School staff in finalizing the budget recommendations.  The goal is to produce a Town Manager’s Recommended Budget document that has the support of the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee, the Appropriation Committee, and the Capital Expenditures Committee.  A month before Town Meeting discusses financial articles, this budget is distributed to Town Meeting members and the finance committees; it is also available to citizens at the Library and the Town Manager’s Office.

Prior to the first session of the annual Town Meeting, all Lexington households are mailed a copy of the Town Warrant containing a draft of all financial and non-financial articles to be considered by Town Meeting.  Generally, the annual Town Meeting begins in March with meetings held on weekday evenings. Town Meeting considers the Recommended Budget and the recommendations of the Selectmen, Appropriation Committee, and Capital Expenditures Committee and votes on final appropriation amounts after making any amendments it deems appropriate -- within the constraints of Proposition 2 ½ and balanced budget requirements.  The precise timing of the process varies somewhat from year to year.  

Significant Dates in the FY 2008 Budget Process

The Town Manager and the Board of Selectmen are responsible for making recommendations for all Town programs, including School programs.  As such, great pains have been made to create a process so as to include the School Committee and School staff in the decision making process. 

In that regard, the Board of Selectmen and School Committee, as well as the Appropriations and Capital Expenditures Committee met on five occasions in work sessions that provided policy guidance to both Town and School staff in developing this budget.  The work product represented within this document is the result of this collaborative process.

Only Town Meeting can amend the budget after adoption. Typically, the adopted budget is amended at the next Town Meeting.  Three articles within the warrant are generally utilized: 

If it is necessary to amend the budget after adoption prior to the Annual Town Meeting, a special Town Meeting must be called.