Sixteen new trees for the historic district and a bylaw to restrict noise on Sundays in West Tisbury. Funding to take over management of Norton Point Beach and planning for a new fire station in Edgartown. Green burials and a solid balk by the finance committee over county spending in Oak Bluffs.

This is just a small sampling of the many items that will come before voters when the Island political season kicks off Tuesday night with annual town meetings in all three towns.

Chilmark and Tisbury will follow with annual meetings on April 24 and 25. Aquinnah will close out the season with its annual meeting on May 9.

Often called the purest form of democracy, annual town meetings allow direct participation by voters in the business affairs of their town governments, from annual town budgets to zoning law changes.

If you think that sounds ho-hum, think again. As an explanatory color graphic shows on the Oak Bluffs town warrant posted online, property tax dollars pay for the bulk of town spending. Put another way, that’s your money. And you have a say in how it’s spent.

But only if you show up.
Town meeting previews appear in today’s edition, and the Gazette will carry complete coverage and analysis of the meetings, both online and in print.

Finally, a special note of thanks to the town finance committees who have spent many long hours this winter meeting with department heads and exhaustively reviewing line item budgets. Their work is unsung and much appreciated.