Skowhegan residents vote June 10, 2024, at the annual town meeting. Jake Freudberg/Morning Sentinel

SKOWHEGAN — Would changing Skowhegan’s annual town meeting from June to earlier in the year solve problems, or would it confuse the town’s residents and create more work for staff?

That is the question town officials are considering after Town Manager Dawn DiBlasi proposed moving the town meeting, typically held in June, to May this year, then earlier in subsequent years, with the goal of eventually holding it in March.

The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday to set municipal elections for June 10, the typical second Tuesday in June and the day after town meeting would traditionally be held.

It will be up to the board to decide soon when to hold the town meeting, a centuries-old form of government unique to New England towns.

Dawn DiBlasi in April 2024. Jake Freudberg/Morning Sentinel file

DiBlasi, who was hired as town manager in April 2024, said there are a few reasons for her proposal to incrementally move the town meeting earlier in the year.

Skowhegan’s fiscal year runs July 1-June 30. If some warrant articles do not pass at the mid-June town meeting, town officials only have a few weeks to rearrange a budget plan before the fiscal year begins, DiBlasi said.

Town officials did, in fact, scramble last year after a typographical error on the town meeting warrant forced them to call a special town meeting to raise $158,071. The special meeting, though, was held June 25, before the start of the fiscal year, and the additional funds were approved.

DiBlasi said holding the town meeting in June discourages some contractors from bidding on town work. While the town often puts some contracts, such as paving, out to bid before the annual town meeting, the spending is contingent on approval in June.

“Sometimes, I’m told that they say, ‘We have all the work that we can do for this year, so we’re going to put you to the next year,’ because June is late for people to start planning their year’s worth of work,” DiBlasi said.

DiBlasi also said that if town officials prepare the budget earlier in the year they can focus on other projects. Setting the budget earlier, before the annual tax commitment in the fall, may help residents plan for any anticipated increases, she said.

After consulting with the Maine Municipal Association, DiBlasi determined the change in date would be allowed under state law.

DiBlasi’s proposal, though, was met with “fierce opposition” by some in the town office, she said.

Town Clerk and Treasurer Gail Pelotte was among those opposed to the change.

“It just works,” Pelotte said of the June date.

Skowhegan changed its town meeting date from March to June in 2007, when it changed its fiscal year to July 1-June 30, Pelotte said. The fiscal year was changed to better align with the one used by the state, Somerset County, and the school district, Pelotte said.

The change of fiscal year has mostly eliminated the need for a tax anticipation note, or TAN, according to Pelotte and Morning Sentinel news reports from the time of the change. TANs are a form of debt used to finance operations before taxes are collected.

A change in Skowhegan’s fiscal year in 2006 created some temporary confusion about tax bills and a change in town meeting date, but meant the town would be borrowing less money, according to this May 25, 2006, Morning Sentinel story. Archives via Newspapers.com

Any change in town meeting may also confuse residents — and perhaps raise some eyebrows, Pelotte said: “If we have predictability with our residents, they’re not going to wonder what we’re up to.”

Trisha Austin, finance and human resources director, told the select board that while she was not arguing for or against moving the date, her office is busy and changing the date this year may be a challenge.

“It’s hopping,” Austin said, as the finance office catches up on audits and other ongoing work.

The town is negotiating with the unions representing some of its workers, and it will take time once that process is complete to calculate all wages for 76 employees that must be included in the budget, Austin said. In future years that would be less of a problem, and the finance department could plan accordingly for a town meeting earlier in the year.

Paul York, chairman of the select board, said he sees some downsides to the June date, but tabled the discussion until the board’s next meeting so members can review the pros and cons of changing the date.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be this year,” York said of the proposed change. “I know sometimes some of these things need to take some time or things have to happen before we change something.”