HB 278 – AS INTRODUCED
2005 SESSION
04/03
HOUSE BILL 278
AN ACT relative to the alternative budget procedure in school administrative units.
SPONSORS: Rep. Casey, Rock 11; Rep. C. Robertson, Rock 13; Rep. Asselin, Rock 7; Rep. P. McMahon, Merr 3; Rep. Scanlon, Hills 18; Sen. Hassan, Dist 23; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 24
This bill revises the voting process for adopting the alternative budget procedure for a school administrative unit by removing references to “annual school district meeting” and replacing it with language that will include those towns which do not have an annual school district meeting.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05-0797
04/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT relative to the alternative budget procedure in school administrative units.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 School Administrative Units; Alternative Budget Procedure. Amend RSA 194-C:9-a and RSA 194-C:9-b to read as follows:
194-C:9-a Alternative Budget Procedure; Method of Adoption.
I.(a) Each school district, within a school administrative unit that is composed of 2 or more school districts, may vote to adopt the provisions of RSA 194-C:9-b to determine the means for adopting the school administrative unit budget by placing a question on the warrant of their next [annual] school district [meeting] election. The question shall be voted on in accordance with the ballot and voting procedures in effect in that school district.
(b) The wording of the question shall be: “Shall the voters of the __________ school district within school administrative unit number ________ adopt the provisions of RSA 194-C:9-b to allow for insertion of the school administrative unit budget as a separate warrant article at [annual] the school district [meetings] election?”
(c) If a majority of the voters voting in the school districts within the school administrative unit approve the question, then RSA 194-C:9-b shall apply starting with the next [annual] school district [meeting of] election in the school districts within that school administrative unit, and shall continue until rescinded. Each school district moderator shall cause a vote to be taken, record the number of yeas and nays, and report the results to the secretary of the school administrative unit board who shall accumulate the total vote for all the school districts within the school administrative unit. The secretary of the school administrative unit board shall announce the results and certify the same to the department of revenue administration.
II. If, in any year, the question presented to the voters in subparagraph I(b) is not adopted, the question may be resubmitted as part of the warrant of the next [annual] school district [meeting] election, provided each school district within the school administrative unit complies with the petition procedure set forth in RSA 197:6.
III. In order to rescind the adoption of RSA 194-C:9-b, each school district within the school administrative unit shall comply with the petition procedure set forth in RSA 197:6 and upon such compliance, a question shall be placed on the warrant of the next [annual] school district [meeting] election. The wording of the question shall be: “Shall the voters of the ____________________ school district within school administrative unit number ____ rescind the adoption of RSA 194-C:9-b, relative to the alternative school administrative unit budget adoption procedure, and adopt the provisions of RSA 194-C:9 as the method for governing the adoption of the school administrative unit budget?” If a majority of the voters voting in the school districts within the school administrative unit approve the question, then the provisions of RSA 194-C:9 shall govern the procedure for adopting the school administrative unit budget in such school administrative unit. Each school district moderator shall cause a vote to be taken, record the number of yeas and nays, and report the results to the secretary of the school administrative unit board who shall accumulate the total vote for all the school districts within the school administrative unit. The secretary of the school administrative unit board shall announce the results and certify the same to the department of revenue administration.
IV. For any town which has adopted a charter under RSA 49-D:3, the method of adoption shall be the manner of amending the charter as provided under RSA 49-B.
194-C:9-b Alternative Budget Procedure.
I. In a school administrative unit composed of 2 or more school districts which has adopted the provisions of RSA 194-C:9-a, the school administrative unit budget adopted according to RSA 194-C:9, I shall be placed before the voters of each school district of that school administrative unit in a separate warrant article at the [annual] school district [meeting] election. Notwithstanding RSA 32 and RSA 40:13, the budget adopted by the school administrative unit board shall not be amended or changed in any way prior to the vote. Each school district moderator shall cause a vote to be taken, record the number of yeas and nays, and report the results to the secretary of the school administrative unit board who shall accumulate the total vote for all the school districts within the school administrative unit. The secretary of the school administrative unit board shall announce the results and certify the same to the department of revenue administration. A majority of voters voting in favor shall result in adoption of the budget proposed by the school administrative unit board. If the article receives less than a majority vote, the budget amount accepted shall be that of the previous year adjusted for continuing contracts. Wording of the warrant article shall be as follows:
“Shall the voters of ___________________________(name of school district) _________________ adopt a school administrative unit budget of $_______ for the forthcoming fiscal year in which $______ is assigned to the school budget of this school district?
This year’s adjusted budget of $_______, with $_______ assigned to the school budget of this school district, will be adopted if the article does not receive a majority vote of all the school district voters voting in this school administrative unit.”
II. This section shall not apply to a school administrative unit that includes a city.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.