Is the Budget Committee obliged to honor budget guidelines and/or principles that may have been adopted by the Board of Selectmen?

No. While the Budget Committee and the Board of Selectmen work closely in an attempt to achieve consensus on budget issues, the Budget Committee is a separate, fully independent entity. While in many cases the Budget Committee and the Board of Selectmen may share many goals and guidelines, the Budget Committee is under no obligation whatsoever to assume those same goals and guidelines.