Some of the specific issues that were often discussed at town meetings included:
- taxation
- public spending
- public projects (such as road construction and school construction)
- land management
- the election of local officials
- drafting letters and communications to neighboring towns
- the appointment or dismissal of ministers or town teachers
Colonists also voted on important policy decisions:
- establishing the laws that would be enforced the community
- adopting the annual town budget for public services and projects;
- resolving boundary disputes or disputes about easements to use pathways that ran across neighboring properties; determining where new public schools would be built.