Maine’s town meeting season has begun. Dozens of municipalities across the state will vote over the next several months on their budgets for the next fiscal year.

But those meetings, resident-led and dependent on resident input, can be daunting, especially for people who recently moved to Maine or have never been to a town meeting before.

So, here’s everything you need to know before walking into your town’s meeting this year.

Why do we have town meetings in the first place?

The town meeting tradition dates back to Maine’s early English colonists in the 17th century.

In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which governed what is now Maine, these early colonists were mostly members of breakaway religious groups that refused to accept the teachings and oversight of the Church of England. Those breakaway groups — think Puritans and Congregationalists — copied the format of their parish meetings back in England for the governing of their newly founded towns, said Maine State Historian Earle Shettleworth Jr.

“They were, at the local level, reinventing how they wished to govern themselves,” Shettleworth said. “The very nature of pilgrims and of Puritans and of other groups — they were the dissenters in England. They were the folks who, by choice, did not belong to the Church of England, but rather wanted to branch off and create their own forms of the Protestant religion. So, when they get to America, they’re 3,000 miles away from England and they want to assert a new form, not only of worshipping, but also of governing themselves.”

In place of the traditional European feudal system, colonists established their own form of local self-governance, where residents would gather once a year in a meeting hall to discuss and vote on the town’s major issues — most notably the budget for the next year.

That colonial tradition remains almost entirely intact today, Shettleworth said. Although the meetings have become less intertwined with religion, most places in Maine — except for bigger towns and cities with elected councils, like Augusta and Waterville — still adhere to the town meeting form of government and generally use the same format the colonists did.

I haven’t been to a town meeting before. What should I expect?

The town meeting is, at its core, a form of direct democracy. By a vote or series of votes, residents dictate where their property tax dollars are spent, what projects are given priority and other important local items.

Town meetings generally are held between the beginning of March and the end of June, as most towns’ fiscal year starts on July 1. Check your town’s website or contact a town official to find out when yours is.

The document you’ll be voting on is called a warrant — a list of all of the spending and taxing the town plans to do over the next year, plus some other administrative items. Each item is called an article (again, town meetings haven’t changed much since the 17th century).

The meeting warrant is prepared well beforehand by town officials, and should be accessible through the town’s website or office. Review the warrant and come to the meeting prepared to ask any questions you might have. Also review last year’s approved warrant to see what might have changed from year to year.

Turnout varies. If there’s a controversial item on the warrant, hundreds of your neighbors could show up. In meetings with low turnout, just a few residents can decide on town funding for the whole year.

At the start of the meeting, the voters will generally elect a moderator. This person is usually well-versed in the parliamentary procedure used to run the meeting, and they’ll be the one to conduct the votes and field questions, directing them to who is best qualified to answer.

What questions can I ask?

All of them. Ask away.

Warrant articles are not always easy to read and can be confusing if you’re not fluent in legalese. And because residents are the legislative body in municipalities that have town meetings — like Congress or the state Legislature — you should feel adequately informed before you vote on any part of the warrant. It’s both your right and your responsibility.

“You don’t have to be an expert in politics or any particular issue to participate in town meeting,” said Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who has moderated Manchester’s town meeting in the past. “It’s structured in such a way that everyone has a vote and a say. Listening to your friends and neighbors, you might come into town meeting with one view and end up voting in a different way.”

The town’s proposed budget for the next year will be outlined in the warrant, along with other ordinance changes and referendum questions. Town meetings are the most direct way to impact how your tax dollars are spent by government officials.

For the best results, ask one short question at a time. Direct your questions to the moderator, who will refer it to the appropriate town official. And avoid getting personal with town officials or other residents.

Feel free to ask to add or take things out of the warrant, too. In fact, Shettleworth said, resident input during town meetings has always been an important part of the tradition.

“Just show up,” Bellows said. “Even if you don’t have time to do a lot of research or homework, that opportunity to be in community with friends and neighbors and have discussions about what matters in your town — and then vote — is huge. It’s direct democracy.”

How do I vote?

Town meetings take several different forms. Some towns limit some discussion and vote by secret ballot, and others with open town meetings conduct every vote as a show of hands. Ask your select board, clerk or manager how your town’s meetings are run and how votes are cast, and prepare accordingly.

If you’re concerned about how others might react to your vote, you might be able to ask for a secret, written ballot for that item. Raise the issue if you want the voting method to change.

Absentee voting is generally not allowed, especially in the traditional open town meeting. For some secret ballot votes, absentee votes can be tallied. Again, feel free to ask your town officials about the specifics of how votes are cast and if you can vote absentee.

Towns also often elect their select board members and other town elected officials around the time of town meetings. Others schedule their municipal elections to coincide with the state primary in June or the general election in November. The select board conducts the business of the town throughout the year, considering emerging topics and planning the general future of the town.

Will there be snacks?

Sometimes! Some organizations plan fundraisers for town meetings, and offer baked goods or lunches for sale on town meeting day. And because it’s that time of year, enterprising Girl Scouts may have cookies to sell.