Groton — Ten people have sent letters of interest to Groton asking to serve on a charter revision commission that could review and recommend changes to town government.  

Charter revision was an issue during the municipal elections, when Republicans seized back control of the Town Council, winning eight of nine seats.

Republican Mayor Bruce Flax said a number of citizens came forward during the election and questioned how Groton is structured and how budgets are determined.

Some voters suggested Groton have a budget referendum if a proposed annual spending increase exceeds a certain threshold, like 2 percent to 2.5 percent, Flax said.

The current charter does not provide for a townwide budget referendum.

"The only way that any of those things can be accomplished is through the charter," Flax said. But a commission could also recommend something different, or no changes to the charter, he said.

Several nearby towns hold budget referendums, including Stonington, North Stonington, Ledyard and Preston.

On Tuesday, the Town Council asked Town Manager Mark Oefinger to compile a list of all the people who have expressed interest in serving on such a commission.

Groton posted a notice on Jan. 20 on the town's website, Groton Municipal Television and the town's Facebook page soliciting letters from people willing to serve.

Darcy Peruzzotti, who served on the Representative Town Meeting about 10 years ago, said she applied because she sees redundancy in Groton.

"I just think the type of government structure could be streamlined," she said.

During budget deliberations, the town manager presents his budget to the Town Council, then the council makes changes and passes it to the RTM, and the process starts all over again, Peruzzotti said.

Rosanne Kotowski, co-founder of Groton Advocates for Tax Efficiency, said she applied to serve because she believes the budget process is flawed.

"Currently the taxpayers/voters have no say in how their tax dollars are spent, and the Town Council is engaged in the process after the budgets have been prepared and submitted by the town manager and Board of Education," she wrote in an email.

Once the council votes to establish a charter review commission, it has 30 days to appoint its members under state law.

Councilors have not established the commission yet, so the clock has not started ticking. Councilors on Tuesday asked Oefinger to create an application for potential commission candidates so those could be sent out.

The council would then interview the candidates.

If the council establishes a commission, the commission would hold public hearings. 

The commission would deliberate over the issues, submit a draft report of recommendations to the council, then present a final report to vote on.

If the Town Council approves the report, it would go to voters at referendum.

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim