Revision: March 3, 2010, midnight
HB 1483 – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
10/05
HOUSE BILL 1483
AN ACT relative to appropriations in the county budget and expenditures of state and federal grants by counties.
SPONSORS: Rep. Millham, Belk 5; Rep. Patten, Carr 4; Rep. Fields, Belk 2; Rep. Merry, Belk 2
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
This bill clarifies the appropriation of county funds in the county budget and requires that state and federal grants be appropriated by the county convention before they may be expended.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2340
10/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to appropriations in the county budget and expenditures of state and federal grants by counties.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Counties; Appropriations; Supplemental Appropriations. Amend RSA 24:14 and 24:14-a to read as follows:
24:14 Appropriations.
I. Appropriations by the county convention shall be itemized in detail and a record thereof shall be kept by the clerk of the convention. The executive committee of the county shall have authority to review the expenditures of the county after adoption of the county budget. Such review may occur as often as voted by the executive committee, but no less than quarterly each year. The convention may require the county commissioners to report once each quarter to the convention or to the executive committee the expenditures of the county as compared to the appropriations in the budget as voted, in such detail as determined by the convention. The county convention may require that the county commissioners obtain written authority from the executive committee before transferring any appropriation or part thereof under RSA 24:15.
I-a. An appropriation in the county budget shall mean a sum of money authorized by the convention, in the county budget or in a supplemental appropriation, to be expended by the county treasurer for a specified purpose of county government. Appropriations shall be itemized in detail and a record thereof shall be kept by the clerk of the convention.
II. The county convention shall adopt [its] the annual budget within 90 days after the beginning of the county’s fiscal year if the county operates on a calendar year basis. If the county operates on an optional fiscal year basis pursuant to RSA 31:94-a, then the county convention shall adopt [its] the annual budget not later than September 1. If the county convention does not adopt [its] the annual budget by the time specified, the budget, as recommended by the commissioners, shall take effect as the county budget.
24:14-a Supplemental Appropriations. The commissioners may apply to the county convention for an appropriation to be made subsequent to the adoption of the annual county budget, or the convention, on its own initiative, may consider and act upon a proposed supplemental appropriation. The clerk of the convention shall deliver or mail to each member of the county convention (who will be in office on the date of the convention vote on the proposed supplemental appropriation) and to the chairperson of the board of selectmen in each town and the mayor of each city within the county and to the secretary of state a statement including the amount of the proposed supplemental appropriation and the objects for which the money is required. Any state or federal grant of money not appropriated in the annual county budget may be appropriated by the county convention only after it has been the subject of a public hearing held after the granting of the funds and before any such funds are expended. The convention shall schedule a public hearing on such appropriation to be held within 30 days of the mailing or delivery of said statement. Notice of the date of said hearing and the date of the convention vote on the proposed appropriation shall accompany said statement. A supplemental county appropriation shall require a vote of the county convention as provided in RSA 24:13.
2 Exceeding Appropriations; Transfer. Amend RSA 24:15, III to read as follows:
III. Unless otherwise ordered by the county convention, under RSA 24:14, whenever it appears that [the] an amount appropriated for a specific purpose, or part thereof, will not be [used in whole or in part] necessary for the satisfaction or fulfillment of such purpose, the county commissioners may [use] transfer such sum to [augment other appropriations, if necessary] another specific purpose for which the appropriation is insufficient, provided the total payments for all purposes do not exceed the total sum of appropriations in any year made by the county convention.
3 Counties; Federal or State Aid. Amend RSA 29:8-a to read as follows:
29:8-a Anticipation of Federal or State Aid. A county may contract for or accept grants of federal or state aid or both in connection with any project for which the county may incur indebtedness under this title; and, after their receipt and appropriation by the county convention, such grants shall be expended according to the terms under which they are received or used to pay indebtedness incurred under this title. The county treasurer upon the order of the commissioners with the approval of the executive committee of the county convention may incur indebtedness in anticipation of the receipt and appropriation of such aid by issuing its note or notes payable not more than 5 years from their dates, except that notes issued for a shorter period than 5 years may be funded and refunded from time to time by the issue of other notes which shall be payable not later than 5 years after the date of issue of the original note or notes creating the indebtedness being funded or refunded. All expenditures under this section shall be pursuant to an appropriation authorized under RSA 24:14 or RSA 24:14-a. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to authorize the appropriation of any money in a manner which is inconsistent with laws relating to appropriations of money by counties.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.