This spring, Barrington residents will vote on a proposed budget that could call for a tax levy increase two times greater than state law normally allows. In addition, local taxpayers are facing an entirely new budget approval process. 

This year, Barrington moved from the financial town meeting format, which it had used for more than 100 years, to the financial town referendum format. The FTM had residents attend a meeting to vote on the proposed budget. The FTR offers residents an opportunity to go to the Barrington Town Hall council chambers on May 27 and cast a ballot for the proposed budget.

Local officials held a special workshop last week to discuss the new FTR format and what it means for residents. The response was mixed. 

“Right now, you’re taking away the democracy of the whole town,” said Barrington resident Tom Rimoshytus, during the workshop. 

Rimoshytus served on the Barrington Charter Review Commission — that board made a series of recommendations to the town council, including one to switch the budget approval process from the FTM to the FTR. Rimoshytus was one of the commission members who voted against that recommendation.

During the recent FTR workshop, Rimoshytus challenged officials about how the budget question will appear on the ballot. There will only be one option — to approve — listed under the budget question on the ballot. Rimoshytus said the ballot should include a second option — to reject the proposed budget. He said the single option was never discussed by the Charter Review Commission members. 

Cynthia Rosengard, who also served on the Charter Review Commission and is currently chair of the Committee on Appropriations, explained that some changes to the budget approval process took place after the Charter Review Commission finished its work. She said officials settled on the current process as a way of implementing the shift from the FTM to the FTR.

Assistant solicitor for the town, Peter Skwirz, said residents cannot reject the proposed budget without offering an alternative budget. Rimoshytus countered: “… it shouldn’t be up to me to come up with a budget for the town.”

Rimoshytus later said that he reached out to the RI Secretary of State to see if the town’s new budget approval process was legal. Skwirz said the RI Secretary of State has nothing to do with a municipality’s budget approval process.

“It just took away democracy from the town,” Rimoshytus said. “You’re just giving this vote to the town council. There’s going to be … why should I come out on a Saturday for a referendum and all I know is that you approve it? Why should I bother coming and vote?

“It shouldn’t come up to me on how to run the town. I don’t know how to run the town. I’m not a financial expert. I shouldn’t have to come up with an idea for a budget... To not be able to reject something takes away my privilege to say no, I don’t want a 4 percent override. It shouldn’t be up to me to figure out 4 percent.”

Officials said there is still a process where taxpayers can propose amendments to the budget — any amendments of $25,000 or less can be submitted to the town clerk’s office by April 27. Taxpayers can also submit budget amendments greater than that amount by the same date, but those will need to be accompanied by 2,856 signatures of registered Barrington voters. (The FTM process did not require signatures for amendments proposed by residents.)

Rimoshytus said the town will be lucky to get 300 people to vote at this year’s FTR. He also said “We’ll have to petition to do away with the FTR. This was supposed to be a big thing for voters. Let’s see how many turn up.”

More about the FTR

Dan O’Mahony, a member of the Barrington Board of Canvassers, explained how the board will complete a certification process for any amendments that are submitted by April 27. He said a key determining factor will be making sure that the resulting budget — once all the amendments are taken into account — does not exceed the total budget amount approved by the Barrington Town Council at an earlier meeting. 

On April 30, the Barrington Board of Canvassers will meet with town officials to review each proposed amendment in chronological order (based on when they were filed with the clerk). 

“If there are multiple amendments proposed, the BOC will need to reject any amendments that, when considered in order, would have the cumulative effect of exceeding the total budget amount approved by the Town Council. All certified amendments will appear on the ballot for voters to consider at the May 27 FTR,” officials wrote in a summary of the recent workshop.