Outside this week the raw, gray weather held spring at bay keeping Islanders wrapped in their winter coats, but inside the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown there was warmth in shades of gray as the artist Margot Datz worked away on the last phase of her deftly wrought tromp l’oeil mural that has taken two years to complete. The paint will be dry and the historic mural ready for first-time viewing when voters walk through the doors of the old church, warrants in hand, for their annual town meeting Tuesday night. And in settings admittedly somewhat less grand, the same procession will play out on the same night in Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and West Tisbury as voters gather to conduct the annual business of their towns.

Hundreds of decisions will be made, annual budgets and other spending articles will be debated and voters in each town will set a new course for the year ahead.

In Edgartown, voters will decide whether to make their fire chief a full-time employee and whether to buy the Mini Park on Main street, a longstanding issue that returns again this year for consideration.

The rising cost of government is a growing concern in all towns, but especially this year in West Tisbury, where among other things voters will face a general override question on the ballot seeking permission for the town to exceed the state-mandated tax cap under Proposition 2 1/2. In a largely symbolic gesture intended to provoke discussion around reining in costs, the town finance committee has voted not to recommend the budget this year. School spending is a key area of concern.

In Tisbury, the worries echo many of those in West Tisbury; with school spending up, town leaders are struggling to find ways to avoid overrides, but for the second straight year Tisbury voters will again be asked to exceed the tax cap.

By contrast in Oak Bluffs, where a full-blown fiscal crisis plagued town government a few years ago, all is quiet on the spending front and no override will be needed this year. But voters will confront an important public health issue at the ballot box next Thursday when they will be asked in a nonbinding question whether to stop fluoridating the town water supply. The board of health is considering an end to the practice. It is settled science that fluoride leads to better dental health in children, and now possibly also the elderly. A no vote on the board of health question will keep fluoride in Oak Bluffs town water.

The Vineyard is graying, and the healthy aging task force, a volunteer group working on planning issues relating to the growing elderly population, is bringing more than one Islandwide initiative before voters this year. One is a proposal to buy the building formerly owned by the Vineyard Nursing Association for use by the Center for Living. The task force’s efforts are impressive, but the cost of the VNA building purchase may be more than voters can swallow this year.

Balancing the costs of providing needed services with the real concerns of taxpayers is part of the annual dance of democracy that is played out each year at town meeting.

When gavels come down on Tuesday, something will be missing from the choreography. Voters in West Tisbury, and indeed the whole Island, will pause to remember Pat Gregory, the beloved longtime moderator in West Tisbury who died tragically last May.

Dan Waters, the new West Tisbury moderator, will respectfully take his place at the podium. In preparation for the moment, Mr. Waters has been educating himself by watching videos of past town meetings.

The moment calls to mind something the late Mr. Gregory said in an interview with the Gazette some years back, speaking about the role of a town moderator.

“You want to move things along . . . . I try to ensure no individual dominates, and reasonable voices on both sides are heard,” he said, adding:

“Democracy works. That’s the bottom line. It’s pretty inspiring.”