During Town Meeting Day, held on March 3, 2026, Brattleboro voters discontinued Representative Town Meeting. Representative Town Meeting, which had been originally scheduled for March 21, has been canceled, and Open Town Meeting will replace it on April 11.
At Open Town Meeting, all registered voters who are present can discuss, debate, amend, and vote on the town budget and on other binding and non-binding items. Below are some helpful dates and documents to review prior to the meeting.
IMPORTANT DATES
April 8: An Informational Session will be held on April 8, 2026, starting at 7 p.m. in the Brattleboro Area Middle School Multipurpose Room.
April 11: Open Town Meeting will be held on April 11, 2026, starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Brattleboro Union High School gymnasium.
DOCUMENTS & OTHER INFORMATION
View the complete warning for this meeting here.
View the 2025-26 Annual Town Report here. Print editions of the report are available at the Brooks Memorial Library and Town Clerk’s Office during regular business hours.
An addendum to the Town Report is in production and will be posted on the Town’s website prior to Open Town Meeting.
Learn more about the budget on the FY27 budget project page and view the Finance Committee’s FY27 Report here.
On Feb. 25, 2026, the Human Services Review Committee hosted an informational forum to discuss municipal human services funding. View it here.
Visit this page to learn more about Robert’s Rules of Order, which are rules of procedure that will guide the meeting.
Watch the Selectboard’s discussion about the Open Town Meeting warning here.
# # #230 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301
Important Dates and Details for Open Town Meeting
Date: March 17, 2026
Roberts Rules of Order training sessions - March 25, April 6 7-8 pm via Zoom
I am offering two Zoom sessions prior to the open town meeting on April 11.
Wednesday, March 25, 7-8 pm; Monday, April 6, 7-8 pm
Contact me if you would like to receive the Zoom meeting login information for either of these sessions.
We will cover the basic motions concerning discussion, deliberation, making motions, offering amendments, etc.
If you have not attended town meeting before this could be very useful.
Andy Davis
andy(at)dancingmasters(dot)com
Good to get familiar
If you haven’t been to a Town Meeting, it’s good to know the basics. You’ll hear others make motions, have discussions, and so on, but also some things that can sound a bit tricky at first, such as “calling the question” (a way to vote to end debate on an issue), and the different ways votes can be counted.
Well worth an hour of review if you want to be on solid footing understanding the nuts and bolts of a town meeting.
I’m curious how Open Town Meeting will play out. I expect a good crowd this year, but probably diminishing crowds in future years unless there is some big issue that gets people out, like a bond vote or a polarizing issue. If people can vote with ballots, will many attend meetings at all? Or maybe a core group will come year after year no matter what, or factions will develop to try to swing issues their way? I think the shake up is good, overall, and have some faith that folks in Brattleboro like participating in democracy and meetings, government and politics.