Although it can’t quite match the excitement of the Super Bowl for beating back the winter blues, mid-January also marks the beginning of budget hearings for West Tisbury and other Island towns. The discerning reader might ask, so what?

So take a look at your property tax bill and the answer should be more obvious. How much residents pay in local property taxes is determined in part by what goes on in your local government budget hearings between now and the end of February. Despite that, very few people attend the hearings except for town officials and employees.

West Tisbury has a town form of government which means that legislative decisions regarding expenditures are made by you, the voter, at the annual meeting held in April. The budget report included for consideration at town meeting is reviewed first by the town finance committee (made up of five residents who are elected) whose job is to make recommendations to the voters on whether to approve certain warrant articles reflecting the budget for the next fiscal year. In other words, when you receive your tax bill and don’t like it, keep in mind you have only yourself to blame; there is no “they” such as Congress or the state legislature to blame. Whatever spending is approved at town meeting shows up in your tax bill, for better or for worse

Want a new school cafeteria? A new police cruiser? More money for elderly services? All these requests appear in department (or regional committee) budgets submitted to the town administrator by the end of December. Their reports are compiled into a draft budget book distributed to the finance committee, and hearings are held every week in January and February. Each department or regional committee is usually asked to appear before the finance committee to explain its budget, and much care is taken to ascertain whether the expenditures are appropriate. Often, department heads are cautioned to either level-fund their expenses or stay within a prescribed percentage change prior to submission.

Once each department’s budget is approved by the finance committee, all this information is printed in the annual town report available for review shortly before the annual meeting. (Past annual reports can also be found online on the town Web site.) At about 200 pages, the annual report is a hefty read in one night, but is packed full of information about the town. From shellfish to fire fighting to the cultural council, pretty much everything you might want to know about your local government is there, including a listing of births and deaths.

West Tisbury residents are certainly not backbenchers when it comes to the annual meeting; there is usually much spirited debate about the issues of the day. Moreover, town officials are hard-pressed to recall a meeting that had to be cancelled because of a lack of quorum. Nevertheless, it’s worth repeating: The entire budget determines what you pay in taxes. residents should look closely at the operating and capital budgets, as well as the treasurer’s report which reflects how the money is coming in and going out. There is a page or two outlining our assets and debts. It’s a little bit like your checkbook when you reconcile it to your bank statement, except that you can’t put stuff on your credit card if you are short unless the rest of the town approves. We also have a reserve to cover unexpected expenses — the town savings account.

For the most part, West Tisbury is in good shape financially. This year’s budget comes in preliminarily at $14.34 million, which is 4.2 per cent higher than last year. The amount of debt is $716,955 or 5.6 per cent higher than last year.

Our revenues come from more than one place. One source of funding for local government is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through what is called free cash, a terrible misnomer if ever there was one. In addition to money from the commonwealth, revenue comes from fees charged for certain services (e.g. beach stickers, licenses, building permits), grants or other government reimbursements. Property taxes are the main source of town government revenue. How property taxes are determined is a bit complicated and is constrained by a tax-cap law adopted over a decade ago, known as Proposition 2 1/2. The advocates of this legislation wanted to make sure that property taxes were not raised beyond a certain point. Simply put, towns and cities are prohibited from increasing the tax levy (not to be confused with the tax rate) beyond two and a half per cent of the previous year’s levy limit and new growth.

Meanwhile, if you’re free on Tuesdays at 4:30 p.m. drop in to the meetings of the finance committee at the public safety building on State Road, or watch them on local cable. There won’t be any fancy halftime show, but at least the heat is on and you can cheer for your favorite town services.

Katherine Triantafillou is a member of the West Tisbury finance committee; the views expressed are the author’s and not meant to represent the finance committee. She can be reached at Katherine@ktlaw.us.