A proposal that would pave the way for changing town government may not be put before voters as selectmen mull over the cost of holding a special election to form a charter reform commission.

“I wouldn’t call a special town meeting because we don’t have the money,” said Selectmen Everett McBride. “To me its just a waste of taxpayers’ money.”

McBride, along with selectmen Patrick Hargreaves and Arthur Barnes, opposed holding a special election to determine the members of the commission because of what it might cost the town.

The decision to form a commission may be put before voters at Town Meeting in March.

On Monday, Nov. 17, selectmen agreed to hold off on making a decision until Town Manager Jonathan Sistare could determine the price tag of a special election.

Selectmen estimated the cost of holding an election at between $4,000 and $5,000.

The decision to move forward with the commission comes following the recommendations presented by the Charter Reform Committee to the board in September. The subcommittee was formed by selectmen earlier in the year to analyze Salem’s style of governance and look for possible improvements. Chairman Dan Norris told selectmen at the time that the current form of town government had limited the number of solutions his committee could consider.

Sistare expects to have an estimated cost for the special election – to be held about two months after Town Meeting if voters approve – in the coming days. Sistare said paying for election workers would constitute much of the costs, but other miscellaneous expenses like printing ballots and reprograming the voting machines could add up as well.

While selectmen may not be on board, Sistare said periodically reviewing the form of town government, especially in a town that has seen as much recent growth as Salem, is healthy.

“(You want) the type of government that best suits the town’s needs and has the most responsive service. Other towns turn towards town councils, mostly because they can be more reactionary when there is a need to do so,” he said. “They can make changes quicker or just budgetary items in response to floods (for example). If they need to appropriate more money they have a mechanism to do that instead of town meetings, which can be a bit cumbersome.”

Salem is currently the only town with a population over 25,000 in the state that uses the Town Meeting form of government.

Looking forward, Sistare said Salem has the options of retaining the Town Meeting for the budget, but switching from a board of selectmen to a seven or nine-person town council or form a town council that incorporates both governmental and legislative authority.

The town could also form a city council, which would remove the option of holding Town Meetings.

“When you get to a larger town – it seems contradictory perhaps – that by having a town council of seven or nine members, it’s more responsive as opposed to Town Meeting for 30,000 people when only 200 show up,” Sistare said. “Even though you’re having a smaller number of people, I think it may be more representative of the town when they have more authority than a Town Meeting. Those seven or nine people are more involved and know the issues more indepth because they’re meeting regularly.”

In the meantime, selectmen are considering adopting some of the committee’s other recommendations, such as streamlining the budgeting process and including an ethics clause in the town charter.

The board is planning to revisit the possibility of moving forward with the special election at its Nov. 24 meeting.