Thomaston’s budget is ultimately governed by an open town-meeting system set out in state statute, because our town has not adopted its own charter. Under state law an annual town meeting is required, and a special meeting can be called either by the Board of Selectmen or when enough voters demand it.

Town meeting participants include any registered Thomaston elector plus non-resident property owners whose holdings are assessed at $1,000 or more. Before anyone can raise a hand, the meeting has to be “warned”: the town clerk posts and publishes a notice listing every item to be acted in advance. The wording in the warning controls the meeting—if it isn’t on the notice, it can’t be voted.

Inside town departments, there’s a practical speed-bump on new spending. The Board of Finance may shift or add up to $20,000 within a department on its own, but anything above that cap must be recommended by the Board of Finance and then approved at a town meeting. State law allows the Board of Education to shift dollars among its own budget lines whenever necessary—as long as the moves stay within the total amount already appropriated for education. When the board needs money beyond that bottom line, Thomaston’s standard thresholds apply.

Voters can still choose to delay the decision—and open it to more participants—by moving the matter to a town-wide referendum. Under state law, any item on a town meeting agenda can be adjourned to an all-day machine vote if enough electors submit a valid petition. But in practice, town officials can choose to call a referendum on their own—no petition needed.

That same referendum safety valve is what turns the annual budget into the spring ritual most residents know: the Board of Finance holds hearings, the budget is presented at an town meeting, and, and then (most likely) moved forward to a town-wide vote. If the budget fails, the Board re-works the numbers and the cycle repeats until it passes, keeping the gears of town government turning tick by tick.