Billerica Charter Panel Votes to Mandate Annual Town Audit, Revise Public-Comment Rules

BILLERICA — July 6, 2026 — Billerica Charter Review Committee advances annual audit mandate and rewrites public-comment rules in four unanimous votes. The committee, working against an August 17 submission deadline, voted unanimously Monday to write a binding annual independent audit requirement into its draft charter, codifying a practice town officials say has been continuous since roughly 2000 and citing Massachusetts General Law Chapter 44, Section 35. In a separate unanimous vote, the panel revised Section 7-10(B) to replace language allowing members of the public to "interchange information with" multi-member bodies — wording members said risked conflicting with the state's Open Meeting Law — with "provide information to," making clear the flow runs from the public to the board, not back again. A fourth vote moved the committee's final scheduled session from Monday, July 13 to Tuesday, July 14. The committee referred a proposed update to the charter's "local newspaper" definition — which would add electronic formats and the town's official website as permissible publication venues — to town counsel for a rush opinion, with member John tasked with sending the inquiry the following day.