Camacho v. Board of Selectmen

This appeal concerns the proper interpretation of the referendum provision in the Stoughton town charter as it affects a referendum petition seeking to have the voters of the town pass on an across-the-board pay raise for nonunion town employees.

*179Article 11 of the Stoughton town charter provides that “[a] vote passed at any representative town meeting authorizing the expenditures of any sum, as an appropriation other than town charges . . . (emphasis added)” may be the subject of a referendum.1 The 1988 annual town meeting held in May voted to approve a budget including appropriations for…