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Health & Fitness

Differences between Annual and Special Town Meetings

Based on questions I've seen in another post's thread, I will do my best to explain and eliminate confusion.  There is one Annual Town Meeting every year, held in early May.  The differentiation between “Annual” and “Special” Town Meetings is based in state law.  The primary difference between the Annual Town Meeting and any Special Town Meeting is that the townspeople must approve the town’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year at the Annual Town Meeting and not a Special Town Meeting.

The Board of Selectmen can call Special Town Meetings as often as they like.  Historically, the town holds a Special Town Meeting in May before the second (Wednesday) session of the Annual Town Meeting and another Special Town Meeting in October. 

The May Special Town Meeting deals with business that arose after the closure of the Annual Town Meeting warrant in February or March. 

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The October Special Town Meeting deals with business that arose during the summer after the Annual Town Meeting.  This includes budget adjustments or expenditures that could not be handled during the Annual Town Meeting because the town doesn’t have firm numbers on things like State Aid, Free Cash, and local tax receipts until the fiscal year ends on June 30.  It also usually includes zoning issues that the Planning Board or town residents submit for discussion.

Any town board or registered voter can submit articles to the Selectmen for inclusion in a town meeting warrant during the period the warrant is open – the Selectmen’s office maintains the calendar for those periods.  Residents must get registered voters’ signatures on the submission – ten for an article in the Annual Town Meeting and one hundred for an article in a Special Town Meeting.  You can get signature sheets at the Town Clerk's office.

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The Selectmen must post the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting at least seven days before the meeting and they must post the warrant for any Special Town Meeting at least fourteen days before the meeting.  The warrants are posted online at:  http://www.tewksbury.info/Pages/TewksburyMA_Warrants/

Printed warrants are available at the Selectmen’s office and Town Clerk’s office at Town Hall, the Town Hall Annex, the Senior Center, and the Library.  They are also available at the check-in desks at Town Meeting.  A resident can request a printed copy through the mail by calling the Selectmen’s office at 978-640-4300.

Keith Rauseo
Town Moderator

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