LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION 39 



agency shall paj^ or agree to pay any money or incur any liability in- 

 volving the expenditure of money for any purpose for which an ap- 

 propriation has not been made, or in excess of any appropriation or 

 allotment made to it except for the purpose of paying judgments 

 rendered against a town or school district, provided, however, that 

 in case of sudden and unexpected emergency the selectmen may on 

 application to the tax commission and the school board on applica- 

 tion to the state board of education after hearing be given a certifi- 

 cate of emergency authorizing them to make such expenditure or 

 incur such liability; provided, further, that in cases arising during the 

 year following a town meeting where changes occur which make it 

 unnecessary to use the amount appropriated for a specific purpose, 

 an unexpended balance may be transferred by boards of selectmen 

 or school boards from one appropriation to another, provided the 

 total amount expended for all purposes does not exceed the total 

 amount appropriated at town or school meetings for all purposes. ^8 



The purpose of the act is to present the voters with a more in- 

 telligent budget and to eliminate from the town meeting radical ap- 

 propriations by self-interested groups. Its continuity, however, de- 

 ];ends in no small measure on the recognition by the committee mem- 

 bers of local public opinion, inasmuch as the power to rescind is 

 vested in a majority vote. 



It must be remembered that the tow^n meeting votes only on ap- 

 propriations for town purposes, and the total town budget upon 

 which the tax rate is computed includes the amounts stated in the 

 warrant of the county treasurer and net appropriations of school and 

 village districts. If the act is accepted by the town, the school, dis- 

 trict is forced to comply, even though school appropriations are voted 

 in the school district meeting and not in the town meeting. For 

 those districts of towns not operating under the municipal budget 

 act, the school board prepares the school budget for the district meet- 

 ing in the same manner in wdiich selectmen prepare the town budget 

 for the town meeting. The village district is not mentioned in the 

 municipal budget act. Village appropriations are voted by motion 

 in the village district meetings and the village district clerk presents 

 the selectmen with a copy of the motion, but this transaction is not 

 a part of the business of the town meeting. 



Appendix 5 is a budget copied^ from the town report of a typical 

 rural town. This town had a population of 797 in 1940. It has no 

 precinct, and it has adopted the municipal budget act. Note that 

 the estimated expenditures include an estimate of taxes payable to 

 other governmental units, namely state, county, and school district. 

 However, the town does not vote"^ on these items, but rather on town 

 charges and special appropriations, such as shown in the budget 

 for Memorial Day, Old Home Day, white pine blister rust, and new 

 highway construction. The "Amount to be Raised by Property 

 Taxes" ($23,490.35) is only an estimate based on the printed budget. 

 The budgeted expenditures for town purposes can be changed in the 

 town meeting, and the amount budgeted for school purposes can be 

 changed in the school district meeting. Furthermore, the amount of 



2» Revised Laws, 1941, Chapter 52, Section 5. 



