A small group of Aquinnah residents are wrangling for a finance advisory committee, which they believe would greatly increase efficiency in the Island’s smallest town. But those who have applied to serve on the committee in the last year feel shut out by town officials who say they don’t qualify.

Aquinnah hasn’t had a finance committee in years, setting it apart from the other Island towns and most towns in the state. The issue came up at the annual town meeting this month, when some residents challenged a $26,000 line item for a finance committee that does not exist. If the money is not spent, it goes into free cash at the end of the year.

Town officials and residents alike have noted a general lack of participation in town government over the years, but the reasons vary. Some point to the challenge of finding people to serve in a small town, while others argue that too many decisions fall to the same people and that dissenting views are often excluded.

Many agree that the town would benefit from more financial oversight. Finance committees oversee the budgeting process and make recommendations to the selectmen about what to spend and not spend. They also have control over a town’s reserve fund (the $26,000 in Aquinnah), set aside for emergencies and unforeseen expenses.

Town administrator Adam Wilson believes the added oversight could improve the budgeting process in Aquinnah and help drive discussion at town meetings. He noted that the town has faced a number of debt exclusions to handle overspending in recent years, and that while town salaries and assessments can’t always be controlled, other budget items can.

“Ultimately a finance advisory committee is supposed to review the proposed budget and make its recommendations to the selectmen,” Mr. Wilson said. “In this situation, the selectmen are making the recommendations to themselves. It defeats the purpose.”

Aquinnah’s annual town budget jumped five per cent this year, due largely to increases in the areas of public works, public safety and education. The budget has gone up 66 per cent in the last 10 years, more than any other Island town. Much of the increases Islandwide are in the areas of education and public safety.

Selectman Jim Newman agreed this week that the town could use the oversight, but noted the difficulty in finding residents who are willing to serve. “I’m afraid that’s the nature of Aquinnah sometimes,” he said.

Town moderator Michael Hebert, who appoints the finance committee, said none of the three residents who applied in the last year were qualified. He pointed out that the town’s other government, the Wampanoag Tribe, has narrowed the field of potential town officials since the 1980s, when the tribe gained federal recognition. “It makes it difficult to come up with good people with not necessarily training, but some background in finance and also a good head on their shoulders,” Mr. Hebert said.

But some who have applied to serve on the finance committee feel they were never given a fair chance.

“They never asked me for my qualifications,” said Macey Dunbar, a board member of Bowen’s Wharf Company in Rhode Island who recently ran an unsuccessful bid for Aquinnah selectman. She said the other finance committee applicants, Elise LeBovit and Alexandra Whitcombe, had the same experience. Ms. Dunbar also led an unsuccessful bid this year to take over stewardship of the Gay Head Light, a contentious process that ended with a decision by the selectmen.

Ms. Dunbar and others see the lack of a finance committee as one symptom of a town government where officials are too few and tend to exclude dissenting voices. During her bid for selectman, for example, Ms. Dunbar said she did not feel comfortable approaching some town officials for information to support her campaign.

“My whole thing in this process has been about learning and doing and participating,” she said. “And I’ve just been shut down every time.”

Ms. LeBovit, who was recently elected to the board of assessors, had a similar take. “I just feel that our town has no checks and balances, and we have selectmen that are very micro-controlling,” she said. “You kind of have to agree with the selectmen now to be on a committee, unless you are voted in.”

But Mr. Hebert sees things differently.

“I understand how important the finance committee is and how badly we need one,” he said. “But I will not be bullied into appointing someone who I think will do more harm than good.” He said he would prefer someone with a financial background, “but also somebody who works well with other people, especially people of authority.”

The last finance committee in town dissolved around 2010, when the selectmen took on the role. Stefanie Hecht, who served on the committee until 2007, including as chairman, recalled the difficulty in finding members, but also a growing tension between the committee and the selectmen, and a lack of financial information prior to town meetings. The committee had dwindled from four to two members by 2009.

“We analyzed things, we made a lot of good decisions and good recommendations,” she said. “And pretty much in general none of them were taken.” She too believes the town has suffered without the independent oversight of a finance committee. “It feels like the selectmen just do everything,” she said.

Not everyone was in favor of dissolving the committee, and debate apparently continued for some time. Former selectman Karl Burgess, who had served on the committee, said in 2008 that it helped maintain a balance between voters and officials. But former selectman Carl Widdiss believed it was unnecessary in a small town. He also noted the issue of authority.

“We have had problems recently with the finance committee acting outside the scope of its responsibilities,” he said during a selectman’s meeting in 2008.

Mr. Hebert, who was also a selectman at the time, said the committee “can prove to be an important asset to the town.”

Finance committees often choose one topic to explore in depth each year, an approach that Ms. LeBovit believes would benefit Aquinnah. Ms. Hecht said her committee’s biggest accomplishment was its role in hiring a town administrator in 2006. “That was our big push, determining that we really needed somebody competent to be the town administrator, and what they needed to handle,” she said. “We defined what their role would be.” The first administrator, Jeffrey Burgoyne, left after three years, and was replaced by Mr. Wilson in 2010.

Over her 42 years in Aquinnah, Ms. LeBovit said she has observed a shrinking government and a consolidation of authority that has discouraged some residents from taking part in town affairs.

“Most people here don’t like conflict,” she said. “We just drop out instead of fighting. Unfortunately, I’m one of the few people that just speaks my mind and it gets me in trouble.”

Some towns choose to elect, rather than appoint, their finance committees — an approach that Ms. LeBovit and Ms. Dunbar have advocated, in part because elected officials are accountable directly to voters. Both have plans to bring that option to a vote at town meeting.

Meanwhile, town officials have begun their own push to revive the finance committee. Mr. Wilson said he didn’t think a financial background was critical, since the committee would work with the town accountant. And he noted that the role is less demanding than some, since most of the activity occurs during the budget season. “It’s about a good quality group of people that not necessarily think alike, but also have the ability to be completely objective in the analysis,” he said. Mr. Hebert has yet to find those qualities in an applicant, but that may change soon.

“There is an active process going on right now,” Mr. Wilson said. “With a certain degree of confidence, I think we will have a fincom this budgetary year.”