Unclear on budget authority

Two cases of Massachusetts towns messing with who had budget authority:

• In Stoughton, residents are having a special town meeting to remove funds from the school budget, because the School Committee did not allocate the funds the way the town meeting and Board of Selectmen wanted the funds allocated. The School Committee under Mass General Law has the allocation authority, though--not the town meeting and not the selectmen.
• In Fall River, the city's attempt to withhold $3.1 million was denied by the state as not reoccuring, not one time, costs. The city thus has not met its required level of school funding.

In related news, I'm still trying to figure out how Dennis and Yarmouth think that they can get PILOT funds from their regional school district.