Tisbury town leaders hope to make quick work of the annual and special town meetings Saturday afternoon, for the safety of voters.

Originally scheduled for March 31, the annual town meeting was postponed three times and will take place outside, under a tent on the Tisbury School playground, beginning at 1 p.m. Face masks and social distancing will be required.

“We want people to want to come to our town meeting, and we want to assure them that we will be timely — and also that health and safety measures will be in place,” town moderator Deborah Medders told selectmen last week.

Ms. Medders said she doesn’t anticipate that any article on the three warrants is likely to slow the meeting down. There are 55 articles in all, with 33 on the annual warrant, 18 on one special warrant and 4 on the other.

But in the face of an uncertain financial future as the pandemic continues, the town finance committee is recommending that voters take no action on some two dozen articles.

That includes numerous items the committee had backed unanimously when the warrants were finalized, before the shutdown in mid-March.

A plastic bottle bylaw and three other articles aimed at reducing petroleum-based products and fossil fuels are among those the finance committee recommends taking no action on, along with articles dedicating revenue from the town’s short-term rental and marijuana taxes to the capital building and infrastructure stabilization fund. The tax revenue will go to free cash instead.

Several other spending articles are expected to be postponed, including $7,968 to help cover a the Dukes County budget shortfall, $6,694 for the county stabilization fund and $17,670 for the school district’s substance abuse prevention program.

Taking no action on a spending article puts the action off until the next year’s town meeting at the earliest, according to the town voter guide.

Bylaw changes and articles that do not require spending may be considered at a special town meeting before next spring.

Town administrator Jay Grande and finance director Jon Snyder worked with department heads to determine which spending articles could be postponed.

A $50,000 infusion to the finance committee reserve fund, $40,000 to adjust the salaries of managers and professional employees, $30,000 for emergency communications equipment and $98,000 to buy trucks for the department of public works are among the articles that will wait, if voters agree.

Articles that voters will asked to approve include $510,000 for road work, a total of $460,000 for affordable housing, $275,000 for library repairs and nearly $60,000 for Tisbury’s share of costs for the county emergency communications center and radio system. Voters also must decide on a $6.4 million borrowing article for wastewater improvements, including sewer expansion to the State Road business district and increasing capacity at the town wastewater facility.

Voters will be asked to approve a $29.8 million annual town operating budget and to transfer $800,000 from the unreserved fund balance to reduce the tax rate.

A proposed amendment to the town liquor law allowing alcohol service without a meal will also be up for debate and a vote.

The finance committee split 2-2-1 on whether to recommend the bylaw change.

“Those objecting to the amendment see Tisbury as a family oriented town and that the additional availability of alcohol will make the town less safe,” the voter guide says.

“Others were in favor of the article because the amendment would support local restaurants and they don’t want to go to Oak Bluffs for a beer.”

The annual and special town meeting warrants, voter guide and a memo from Mr. Snyder, the finance director, are posted on the town website.