TIVERTON — The town’s Charter Review Commission has found “some sentiment” for alternatives to the tradition-bound Financial Town Meeting, according to the chairman of the nine-member panel.

But Cecil E. Leonard is quick to point out that no vote has been taken on any potential change to the charter during twice-monthly meetings that began in September. The next session is tomorrow at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.

Voters overwhelmingly agreed last year to entertain a proposal to replace the Financial Town Meeting, triggering the election of the Charter Review Commission last July.

The commission is also exercising its authority to take comments on the entire charter, Leonard said, scheduling remarks from different sectors of town government at various meetings.

Invited guests at tomorrow’s session include members of the School Committee, the school superintendent, and members of the Zoning Board of Review and the Historical Cemetery Commission, Leonard said.

One proposal under consideration would eliminate the Financial Town Meeting and the elected Budget Committee, which makes recommendations to voters, leaving the Town Council responsible for the municipal budget and the School Committee deciding on the school budget.

Fiscal recommendations would come from paid municipal and School Department staffs, with a workshop and a formal public hearing occurring before a final vote by the council and the School Committee, Leonard said.

Citizens would be able to override the decisions of the elected officials, either through a special Financial Town Meeting or a daylong referendum, he said.

He said the Charter Commission is “very well-attuned” to the controversy that has arisen from the special Financial Town Meeting in neighboring Portsmouth, “and we don’t want to have a ‘tent’ meeting.”

The effects of a highly divisive special Financial Town Meeting, in August 2006, continue to reverberate today. Portsmouth’s voters will decide Nov. 6 whether to adopt a referendum instead of a meeting as a means of retaining direct democratic control of the council’s budget.

In Tiverton, meanwhile, Leonard said another proposal would retain the existing role of the Budget Committee, but its recommendations would be subject to daylong balloting rather than a vote at a meeting.

The Board of Canvassers has suggested that the Financial Town Meeting be moved from a weekday night to a Saturday to improve attendance, he said.

Public interest in the annual Financial Town Meeting has waned to the point where the biggest question of evening has been how long it would take to assemble a quorum, or whether one would be reached at all.

Of Tiverton’s 11,000 registered voters, only 301 are needed to conduct a Financial Town Meeting.

Lately, the only reason a quorum is reached is that those in attendance take out their cell phones and call friends and neighbors, urging them to come, Leonard said.

Three years ago, he said, the meeting had to be adjourned for lack of a quorum, he said.

Moreover, legally binding labor contracts with school and municipal workers and other long-term financial commitments necessary to run the town’s affairs mean that the voters don’t have any real discretion over much of the budget, Leonard said.

For example, Leonard said, “the amount of money allocated for heating oil is variable,” but there is now a contract for that too.

“The purpose of the Financial Town Meeting has dwindled as more and more things have developed in a contractual manner,” he said.

A separate proposal would retain the role of the Budget Committee, but its recommendations would be subject to a daylong referendum rather than a vote at a meeting, Leonard said.

Other facets of the Town Charter also have prompted comment. The town treasurer has proposed increasing the reserve fund to 6 percent from 3 percent of the annual operating budget over several years, Leonard said.

“There’s interest in that but also concern,” he said.

“From a financial standpoint it’s smart to increase the reserve, but from a budgetary standpoint, where is the money going to come from?” he said.

Another suggestion would have the town return to partisan elections.

According to that line of thinking, “the American system benefited from the party label and we were being foolish at the town level not to recognize at least two parties,” Leonard said.

He said he “didn’t notice any lack of activity by the political parties” in the last election.

“Both Democrats and Republicans worked to support their candidates,” he said, even though party affiliation is not listed on the ballot.

Leonard described the commission meetings, on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, as “a continuum of a brainstorming session.”

The commission plans two public forums, one in December and another in February.

By March, “we will have to have our minds made up” in order to report to the council according to a self-imposed deadline in April, Leonard said.

The council needs time to deliberate and make its own recommendations to meet yet another deadline in early August for determining the language that will go on the ballot in Novembe 2008, Leonard said.

That is when voters will make a final decision on any changes to the Home Rule Charter.

gmacris@projo.com