One of the most time intensive and critical steps of the TRSP is the review of warrant articles. Warrant articles are essentially town meeting agenda items for the entity. For the purposes of the tax rate setting process, a warrant article is a proposed appropriation to be voted on by the constituents at town meeting. Warrant articles require specific language to ensure they adhere to state statutes and are legally acceptable. The majority of filers submit draft warrant articles to Municipal Services in the late fall for review (optional “Pre-Review”). MS personnel provide feedback and potential language changes to the entity. The warrant articles (as posted at town meeting) coincide with the 6- and 7-series TRSP forms (MS-636, MS-6C, or MS-737 for municipalities; MS-26, MS-26C, MS-27 for Schools; MS-636, and MS-737 for Villages).

At town meeting, warrant articles are either approved or rejected by the voters, and an “Appropriations as Voted” 2-series TRSP form (MS-232 for municipalities and village districts or MS-22 for schools) is filed with DRA. Additionally, town meeting minutes are submitted. MS personnel check the language of the warrant articles against the meeting minutes to determine which appropriations were approved or amended. At this point, MS personnel can disallow warrant articles if they were improperly drafted (contain incorrect language). Currently, no standardized format exists for drafting and submitting warrant articles; they are transmitted to DRA in a variety of formats, including hard copy.