HB 352-LOCAL – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
05Mar2008… 0653h
2007 SESSION
04/03
HOUSE BILL 352-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to trust funds for public school educational enhancement.
This bill permits school districts to establish a trust fund to accept private funds to enhance public education.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05Mar2008… 0653h
07-1046
04/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT relative to trust funds for public school educational enhancement.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 School Money; Trust Funds. Amend RSA 198:20-c to read as follows:
198:20-c Trust Funds Created for Specific Purposes; Expenditures; Administration.
I. The school district may at any annual or special meeting appropriate such sums of money as it deems necessary to create expendable trust funds for specific purposes for the maintenance and operation of schools, for the enhancement of public education, and for any other public purpose that is not foreign to the school district’s institution or incompatible with the objects of their organization. The school board may be named agents to expend such trust funds. Expenditure from such trust funds shall be made only for the purpose for which the trust fund was established.
II. School district trust funds created pursuant to this section shall be held in custody by the trustee named pursuant to RSA 31:22 of trust funds of the town wherein the school district lies, or in the case of school districts embracing 2 or more towns, by the trustees of trust funds of that town which the voters of the school district may elect at the annual school district meeting. In order to expend such funds, the school board shall hold a public hearing prior to the expenditure to be made. After the hearing and a decision by the school board to proceed with the expenditure and within 10 calendar days of the decision, any 25 residents of the school district may, in writing, petition the probate court or superior court in the county in which the school district is located for a public hearing to further consider the single issue of whether the expenditure is for the purpose for which the fund was established. The court shall hold a hearing and render a decision in a timely manner. Notice of the time, place, and subject of each such school board hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the relevant municipality at least 7 days before the meeting is held.
III. A trust fund created under the provisions of this section that is established for the purpose of maintaining health insurance funds for the benefit of employees and retired employees of any school district shall be exempt from the provisions of paragraph II, and when so established, the school district may name its own trustees who may expend any funds in the trust for the payment of health claims or health insurance premiums for the benefit of any employees or retired employees of the school district. An annual accounting and report of the activities of the trust shall be presented to the school board of the district and published in the annual report.
III-a. The principal of a trust fund created under this section that is established to enhance education shall be retained by the trustees of such trust funds in perpetuity. An annual accounting and report of the activities of the trust shall be presented to the school board of the district and published in the annual report.
IV. Trust funds created pursuant to this section shall be revocable by majority vote of the legal voters present and voting at any annual meeting, unless the vote creating the trust expressly provides that the trust shall be irrevocable, and upon revocation the trustees of trust funds holding the account for said trust shall pay all the moneys in such funds to the school treasurer.
V. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any trust fund created under this section shall be subject to the same provisions concerning custody, investment, expenditure, change of purpose, and audit as are reserve funds established under RSA 35:1 or 35:1-c. The legal validity of such a fund properly established shall not be affected by its designation as a “trust,” “reserve,” “capital reserve,” or any other designation. A trust fund established for maintaining health insurance funds as set forth in paragraph III shall be exempt from the provisions of RSA 35:8.
VI. The district may authorize the acceptance of privately-donated gifts, bequests, legacies, and devises to be utilized for the same purpose as a trust fund created under this section; provided, however, that such gifts, bequests, legacies, or devises shall be invested and accounted for separately from, and not commingled with, amounts appropriated under paragraph I, and shall be subject to the custody and investment provisions applicable to trust funds accepted under RSA 31:31.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
07-1046
Amended 03/26/08
HB 352 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to trust funds for public school educational enhancement.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Legislative Budget Assistant has determined that this legislation, as amended by the House (Amendment #2008-0653h), has a total fiscal impact of less than $10,000 in each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012.