This year, Salem will vote on forming a charter commission that will look into changing the town’s form of government. The growing town, with a population of about 30,000, may warrant a change to a city form of government soon. But until then, this is how voting is run in Salem.

Although Pelham and Windham are official ballot law towns, and Salem school elections are also run that way, Salem town follows a slightly different process.

The town operates under a charter, established in 1998. When New Hampshire towns began changing from traditional Town Meeting to running elections under the official ballot law, commonly known as SB-2, Salem selectmen decided to go a different way. They believed voters wanted to keep some of the old Town Meeting benefits of being able to discuss and vote on some items in public.

So, the charter established that some items would appear on a ballot and be voted on in March at the local election, said Bob Campbell, who was a member of the board of selectmen at the time. Others would be voted on the Saturday after the ballot vote in an open meeting, known as the second deliberative session of Town Meeting.

This year, the second session is set for March 14. Ballot voting takes place Tuesday, March 10.

The ballot items include the town’s operating budget, any collective bargaining agreements for town employees, such as police and firefighters, and any bond items, said Kathleen Cote of the Salem Budget Committee. These items are discussed and can be changed by voters at the first deliberative session, this year on Feb. 7.

But the charter establishes that if the budget fails, a new budget will be crafted and voted on at the second deliberative session, she said.

“A town needs a budget,” said Campbell, which is one of the reasons the selectmen set up the charter as they did.

When the budget on the school side fails on the ballot, a previously decided default budget, usually last year’s budget plus other costs, is used. There is also a provision on the ballot which allows another meeting to take place at a later date to vote on a new budget.

But under the charter, there is no default budget. The town meets on the Saturday after the ballot to discuss and vote on a new budget, so it’s taken care of immediately. Voting on a new budget is generally the first warrant discussed at the second deliberative session.

This provision has not had to be used so far, said Cote. Since the charter has been in place, the town’s operating budget has never failed on the ballot.

“I call it a ‘just in case’ scenario,” she said.

Other items voted on at the second deliberative session include “just about everything else” besides the budget, collective bargaining agreements and bond issues, Cote said. Petition warrant articles are always voted on in that session. Also, salaries of library employees are voted on at that time, as they don’t have a union.

Some money issues are voted on then if they don’t have to be bonded. Other “just in case” items are also decided then, Cote said.

The charter has worked well for Salem. Turnout is generally lower for both deliberative sessions than for ballot voting, but that’s the case in any town, said Cote.

But Campbell has noticed a definite benefit of splitting items between a ballot and a second deliberative session.

“Since we started, Town Meeting has never lasted more than a day,” he said.