The Finance Committee believes that formally documenting our policies
provides a number of important benefits to board members, residents, and other boards
and committees, including:
· Providing
insight into how the Finance Committee operates
· Improving
coordination between the Finance Committee and other boards and committees
· Providing
newly elected Finance Committee members and residents interested in serving on
the Finance Committee a clear expectation of what is expected of them
· Ensuring
Finance Committee members are aware of and adhere to applicable legal and
ethical obligations
This policy follows a recommendation made by the 2004 Conflict of
Interest Committee:
“Town officials should
more fully document and formalize decision-making procedures and all boards,
committees, commissions, and departments should maintain records of important
decisions in either minutes or other appropriate documentation.”
NH law recognizes
two types of budget committees:
· Advisory
Budget Committees (often known as Finance Committees)
· Municipal
Budget Act Budget Committees
Brookline has an advisory Budget Committee, referred to as the
Brookline Finance Committee. Sections 7 and 8 describe the roles and
responsibilities of the Finance Committee.
3. Mission and Values
3.1. Mission Statement
The Brookline Finance Committee represents
voters by understanding and promoting their needs, concerns, and suggestions
related to all town and Brookline School District Financial matters.
The Finance Committee believes voters needs include at a minimum:
· Reasonable
and affordable tax rates
· Prudent and
effective spending of tax dollars
· Input and
insight into town and school district spending
3.2. Values
The Finance Committee strives to follow these values in any
business it conducts:
3.2.1. Focus on Finances
The Finance Committee focuses
its attention on financial matters and avoids questioning the policies and
goals of other boards, committees, and departments unless there is legitimate
financial reason to do so.
The Finance Committee makes financial
recommendations using objective processes based on sound financial and business
principles. Finance Committee recommendations include a clear explanation of
these processes and a detailed description of any proposed spending
changes (including specific budget line items where applicable).
The Finance Committee encourages
input from all residents, town boards, and committees in order to develop sound
recommendations that take into account the broad (and diverse) range of
opinions in our community. While the Finance Committee may not always agree
with the recommendations it receives, it will consider all recommendations and treat
the people making them respectfully.
The Finance Committee considers
disagreements between members of the Finance Committee and between the Finance
Committee and other boards and residents to be normal and healthy, but strives
to keep disagreements respectful and focused on the issues at hand.
The Finance Committee expects to
ask numerous questions of other town officials related to financial matters,
and the Finance Committee encourages residents to do the same. The Finance
Committee strongly believes that taxpayers have the right to question any
financial decision made by town officials, and that they deserve polite, accurate,
and complete answers to those questions.
Asking questions about how tax
dollars are spent should not be misinterpreted as questioning anyone’s decisions
or skills nor as a lack of supporting for any program or department.
4.
Meetings and Public Records
Finance Committee meetings occur on the 2nd
Thursday of each month at 8:00 PM in the Town Hall Meeting Room (located in the
Daniel Academy Building at 1 Main Street).
The Finance Committee invites all members of the public (including
the press) to attend any Finance Committee Meeting.
Brookline Cable Access Channel 13 broadcasts all Finance Committee
meetings if possible.
Two finance committee members must attend a meeting to form a
quorum.
The Brookline Finance Committee posts notices of its meetings in
the following locations at least 24 hours before the scheduled meeting:
·
Brookline Town Hall
·
Brookline
Cable Access Channel 13
· Town Website
The Finance Committee Secretary prepares minutes for all Finance
Committee Meetings according to NH’s “Right to Know” Law.
Draft meeting minutes may be obtained at
Town Hall within 144 hours (6 days) of the meeting.
Approved meetings minutes may be obtained
at Town Hall or from the official Brookline web site.
The Brookline Finance Committee provides
the following records to the Brookline Town Hall after approving them (see 6.1):
· Copies of
all letters sent to or from the Finance Committee
· Copies of
all presentations made by the Finance Committee
· Copies of
any calculations performed by the Finance Committee and released to other
departments or individuals
The Finance Committee provides copies of other
public records as defined by state law within 5
business days of receiving a written request.
The Finance Committee may be reached via the following methods:
financecommittee@brookline.nh.us
Town of Brookline
Attention: Finance Committee
P.O. Box 360
1 Main Street
Brookline, NH 03033-0360
· James
McElroy 603.676.6211 (before 9:00 pm)
· Larry
Rodman 603.249.3278 (between 8:30am – 8pm)
· Fred
Hubert 603.672.9469 (before 7:30 pm)
Based on the Finance Committee’s interpretation of NH law,
all email sent to the Finance Committee’s official email address must be made
available to the public upon request. The Finance Committee will remove
personal email addresses from any emails it makes public.
Email sent to Finance Committee member’s personal email addresses
will not be considered public unless the sender requests that it be made public
(in that case, the email will be forwarded to the official Finance Committee
email address).
In order to ensure that all communications initiated by the Finance
Committee accurately reflect the positions of the committee, all Finance
Committee communication that includes recommendations or opinions (including
letters and email) will:
· Be
approved by all Finance Committee members at a public Finance Committee meeting
or via email. Communication approved via email will be re-approved at the next
Finance Committee public meeting.
· Be issued
by the Finance Committee Chair
· Use the
official Finance Committee Letterhead or email template
· Include
the names of all Finance Committee Members
Finance Committee members may not contact other committees, boards,
organizations, or residents on behalf of the Finance Committee without approval
of the Finance Committee chair during a public hearing, or an affirmative vote
by the Vice-Chair and Secretary in the event the Chair isn’t present.
To facilitate efficient use of the Finance Committee’s time, the
Finance Committee Chair may contact other committees, board, organizations, and
residents on behalf of the Finance Committee regarding administrative matters
(including but not limited to scheduling meetings, inviting speakers,
requesting information, and asking questions). Administrative communication
will not include any recommendations or opinions unless they reference
previously approved official communication as described in section 6.1
In order to avoid any confusion between the individual positions
held by Finance Committee members and the official positions of the Finance
Committee, Finance Committee members adhere to the following recommendation of
the 2004 Conflict of Interest Committee:
“No member of a board,
committee, or commission shall speak on behalf of their respective board,
committee or commission unless authorized to do so by their respective board,
committee, or commission. This is not to suggest that individual members cannot
speak publicly, but rather to emphasize that they should clearly state they are
speaking only on their individual behalf and not represent himself or herself
as speaking for the board, committee, or commission.”
In addition to providing public access to records as described in
section 4, the Finance Committee posts copies of all requests to other boards,
recommendations, reports, presentations, and related material to Brookline’s official
website.
In addition to posting information to
the official website, the Finance Committee may also disseminate this
information via:
· The unofficial
Brookline discussion forum
· Local newspapers
· Email
Because NH State Law does not clearly identify the permissible uses
of email by public bodies, the Finance Committee follows the recommendations of
the NH Local Government Center:
“...NHMA
advises that municipal boards limit electronic communications to purely
administrative matters and avoid engaging in discussions regarding official
business that involve a quorum of any board. In the absence of any legislative
or judicial guidance, a conservative approach is generally best.”
The Finance Committee also monitors the recommendations of the
Right to Know Law Study Commission.
· Prepare
agendas and post in accordance with state law.
· Serve as
the official point of contact for communication to and from residents, town
boards, and the press
· Assume
chair’s role in the event the chair cannot attend a meeting
· Prepare
meeting minutes in accordance with state law.
· Maintain
Finance Committee spreadsheets
· Serve as
a voting member
· Review
and approve calculations made by the Data Analyst
|
Responsibility
|
Members Responsible
|
Timeframe (approximate)
|
Others Involved:
|
|
BOS
|
BSB
|
Other
|
|
Develop shared expectations (including
goals and schedules) with Board of Selectmen and Brookline School Board
|
All
|
May
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
|
Provide Budget Proposal Process Recommendations
|
All
|
May
|
Y
|
Y
|
All department heads
|
|
Collaborate with town boards
throughout the year on Financial Issues as requested
|
All
|
All year
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
|
Provide Overall Budget Recommendations
|
All
|
August
|
Y
|
Y
|
All department heads
|
|
Participate in Budget Discussions
|
All
|
September
|
Y
|
Y
|
All department heads
|
|
Participate in Public Budget Hearings
|
All
|
December
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
|
Document proposed budgets and changes in Finance
Committee spreadsheet.
|
Data Analyst
|
September-March
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
|
Analyze proposed budgets and provide specific
recommendations
|
All
|
September-January
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
|
Calculate estimated tax impact of proposed budgets
|
Data Analyst
|
September-March
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
|
Vote on Town Warrant Articles related to spending
|
All
|
December
|
Y
|
-
|
|
|
Serve on the Capital Improvements Committee
|
James McElroy
|
May-November
|
Y
|
Y
|
Capital Improvements Committee
|
|
Serve on the Facilities Committee
|
Larry Rodman
|
?
|
Y
|
-
|
Facilities Committee
|
|
Serve on the Brookline School Board Education
Specification Committee
|
TBD
|
?
|
-
|
Y
|
|
|
Serve on the Coop Apportionment Committee
|
Fred Hubert
|
?
|
-
|
-
|
Long Range Facility Planning Committee
|
|
Solicit Public Input from
residents
|
All
|
All year
|
-
|
-
|
|
|
Educate residents on town budgeting process
|
All
|
All year
|
-
|
-
|
|
|
Provide data and analysis of town finances to
residents
|
All
|
All year
|
-
|
-
|
|
|
Present at Annual Meetings
|
All
|
March
|
Y
|
Y
|
|
1BOS = Board
of Selectmen
BSB = Brookline School Board
The Finance Committee’s conflict of interest policy is based on
the recommendations of the 2004 Conflict of Interest Committee.
The proper operation of democratic government requires that public
servants be independent, impartial, and responsible to the people; that
government decisions and policy be made through the proper channels of
governmental structure; that public office not be used for personal gain; and
that the public have confidence in the integrity of its government members to
perform their duties without conflicts between their private interests and
those of the citizens they serve.
The purpose of this code is to establish guidelines for the ethical
standards of conduct for public servants. As such, the Town of Brookline:
· Expects
our public servants to act in the best interest of the town
· Expects
public servants to disclose, whenever possible, any personal, financial or
other interests in matters affecting the town that come before them for action
· Expects
public servants to remove themselves from decision making if they have a
conflict of interest
· Expects
public servants to be independent, impartial, and responsible to their fellow
townspeople in their actions
· Expects
that the public servant’s decisions and policies be made through the proper
channels of government
Conflict of Interest: A situation or circumstance where a
public servant’s personal, pecuniary or financial interests have the potential
to interfere with the proper exercise of a public duty.
Pecuniary Interest: Any advantage in the form of money,
property, commercial interest or anything else, the primary significance of
which is economic gain; it does not include economic advantage applicable to
the public at large, such as tax reduction or increased prosperity of the town.
Personal Interest: Interest in a matter, aside from official
interest as a function of a public servant’s position, which is more direct
than that of the public at large and would influence the action of the public
official.
Public Servant: All officers and employees of the Town,
whether elected, appointed, paid, volunteer, or anyone acting in a position
other than as a member of the general public. A person is considered a public
servant upon their election, appointment, or designation as such, although they
may not yet officially occupy that position.
Recuse: To remove or excuse oneself from participating in a
specific action or discussion due to a conflict of interest. Recusal means to
remove oneself completely from all further participation as a public servant in
the matter in question. Public servants who have been recused shall immediately
leave the room or shall seat themselves with the other members of the public at
large who are present. When recused, public servants shall not participate in
further discussions unless they clearly state for the record that they are
doing so only as a general member of the public. A recused public official is
effectively a member of the general public and shall not deliberate nor vote on
the matter in question.
Public servants shall avoid conflicts of interest.
Public servants shall recuse themselves and shall not take part in
the decision-making process of any matter before the town in which they have a
personal or pecuniary interest. Members of the Planning Board and Zoning Board
of Adjustment are further bound by the provisions of RSA 673:14.
Public servants shall not directly or indirectly solicit gifts or
accept or receive any gift (whether in money, services, loans, travel,
entertainment, hospitality, premises or in some other form), under
circumstances in which it could be reasonably inferred that the gift was
intended to influence them in the performance of their duties or was intended
as a reward for any recommendation or decision on their part.
Public servants must not disclose or improperly use confidential
information obtained in the course of their duties. No public servant shall use
town letterhead or stationary for any purpose other than official town
business. Members of boards, committees, and commissions may only use town
letterhead for purposes approved by their respective board, committee or
commission.
No member of a board, committee, or commission shall speak on
behalf of their respective board, committee or commission unless authorized to
do so by their respective board, committee, or commission. This is not to
suggest that individual members cannot speak publicly, but rather to emphasize
that they should clearly state they are speaking only on their individual
behalf and not represent himself or herself as speaking for the board,
committee, or commission.
Town of Brookline Official Website: http://www.brookline.nh.us
Unofficial Brookline Online Discussion Forum: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/brooklinenh
Town of Brookline: Report of The Committee to Examine Conflict Of
Interest, November 2004. Included in the Brookline 2004 Annual Report,
available from Town Hall.
Town of Brookline 1997 Master Plan Update. Prepared by the Brookline Planning Board. Available from Town Hall or online at http://brookline.nh.us/documents/committees/PB/98%20Master%20Plan/210I-31_brooklinempch0_dec98_cover.htm
Town of Brookline Buildout Analysis, December 2003. Prepared by the
Nashua Regional Planning Commission. Available from Town hall or online at http://brookline.nh.us/pages/towngovernment/PB/buildout.htm
NH Revised Statutes. Chapter 32: Municipal Budget Law. Unofficial
copy available at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/indexes/32.html
NH Revised Statutes. Chapter 91: Right to Know Law Unofficial copy
available at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/indexes/91-A.html
The Basic Law of Town, Village, and School District Budgeting.
2004 Edition. Local Government Center, Inc. See http://www.nhlgc.org/Public_Documents/NHLGC_Services/publicationlist
Approved on: 5/25/2006
Approved by:
