HB 1212 – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
06/05
HOUSE BILL 1212
AN ACT relative to municipal charter statutes.
SPONSORS: Rep. Splaine, Rock 16
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
This bill modifies certain statutes relative to municipal charter revisions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2624
06/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to municipal charter statutes.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Charter Revisions, Adoptions, Procedure. Amend RSA 49-B:3, IV(a) to read as follows:
(a) A petition certified insufficient for lack of the required number of valid signatures [may be amended once if the petitioners’ committee files a notice of intention to amend it with the clerk within 2 days after receiving the copy of his certificate. Within 10 days after the date of filing of the notice of intention, the committee may file a supplementary petition to correct the deficiencies in the original petition. Such supplementary petition shall in form and content comply with the requirements for an original petition under paragraph III] shall not be resubmitted for one year after the date of certification of the petitioner’s committee.
2 Charter Revisions, Adoptions, Procedure. Amend RSA 49-B:3, IV(c) to read as follows:
(c) When [an original or supplementary] a petition has been certified insufficient, the committee may, within 2 days after receiving the copy of the clerk’s certificate, file a request with the municipal officers for review. The municipal officers shall inspect the petitions and shall make due certificate thereof, copies of which shall be filed with the municipal clerk and mailed to the committee. The certificate of the municipal officers shall be a final determination of the sufficiency of the petitions.
3 Charter Amendments; Procedure. Amend RSA 49-B:5, II – IV(a) to read as follows:
II. On the written petition of a number of voters equal to at least [20] 30 percent of the number of [votes cast in a municipality at the last regular municipal election] total registered voters on the checklist 2 days after the last election, not including special elections, but in no case less than 10 voters, the municipal officers shall, by order, provide that proposed amendments to the municipal charter be placed on a ballot in accordance with the procedures set out below.
(a) Each amendment shall be limited to a single subject but more than one section of the charter may be amended as long as it is germane to that subject.
(b) Alternative statements of a single amendment are prohibited.
II-a. The following procedure shall be used in the alternative method set out in paragraph II:
(a) Any 5 voters of the municipality may file with the municipal clerk an affidavit stating that they shall constitute a petitioners’ committee. Such affidavit shall be signed by the members of such committee and an additional [20] 10 percent of voters of the municipality on the checklist as of the last election, not including special elections, and shall include:
(1) The language of the proposed amendment.
(2) The names and addresses of the committee members.
(3) The address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent.
(b) The petitioners’ committee, or voters of the municipality designated by the committee, may circulate the petition and file it in proper form. Any person circulating the petition shall be identified by his or her name and shall inform voters if he or she is compensated for circulating the petition.
(c) Promptly after the affidavit is filed by the petitioners’ committee, the clerk shall file a certified copy of the affidavit, including the proposed amendment, for review of the proposed amendment in accordance with RSA 49-B:5-a. Promptly after receiving approval of the proposed amendment from the state officials under RSA 49-B:5-a, the clerk shall issue petition blanks to the committee.
III. The petition forms shall carry the following legend in bold lettering at the top of each form on the face thereof.
Municipality of ____________________
“Each of the undersigned voters respectfully requests the municipal officers to provide for the amendment of the municipal charter as set out below.” No more than one subject may be included in a petition. Except as provided in RSA 49-B:5, II-a, in all other respects the form, content and procedures governing amendment petitions shall be the same as provided for charter revision and adoption petitions under RSA 49-B:3 including procedures relating to filing, sufficiency and amendments.
IV.(a) Within [10] 15 days of receipt of a report that a petition is sufficient, the municipal officers shall by order provide for a public hearing on the proposed amendment. The notice of the hearing shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the municipality at least 7 days prior to the hearing, and shall contain the text of the proposed amendment and a brief explanation. The hearing shall be conducted by the municipal officers or a committee appointed by them.
4 Repeal. RSA 49-B:3, IV(b), relative to petition for revision of municipal charter, is repealed.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.