Revision: March 7, 2013, midnight
HB 269-LOCAL – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
6Mar2013… 0359h
2013 SESSION
04/10
HOUSE BILL 269-LOCAL
AN ACT authorizing a city or town to conduct a special meeting necessitated by changes in adequate education funding.
SPONSORS: Rep. Boehm, Hills 20; Rep. L. Ober, Hills 37
This bill authorizes a city or town to conduct a special meeting necessitated by changes in adequate education funding.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
6Mar2013… 0359h
13-0216
04/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Thirteen
AN ACT authorizing a city or town to conduct a special meeting necessitated by changes in adequate education funding.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 School Meetings; Special Meetings. Amend RSA 197:2 to read as follows:
197:2 Special Meeting. A special meeting of a school district shall be held whenever, in the opinion of the school board after consultation with the budget committee, if any, there is occasion therefor, or whenever 50 or more voters, or 1/4 of the voters of the district, whichever is less, shall have made written application to the school board therefor, setting forth the subject matter upon which action is desired. No special school district meeting shall be held in conjunction with the biennial election, except when a special school district meeting has been approved by the court and a school district has adopted the official ballot referendum form of meeting pursuant to RSA 40:14.
2 New Paragraph; Use of Official Ballot. Amend RSA 40:13 by inserting after paragraph XVII the following new paragraph:
XVIII. In response to statutory changes resulting in reductions or increases in distribution of state revenues for education pursuant to RSA 198:41 to school districts which would take effect after the adoption of a new school district budget and would apply in the fiscal year covered by the new budget, the governing body of a school district which uses the official ballot for voting may, after consultation with the budget committee, call a special meeting of the legislative body to consider a reduction, rescission, or increase of appropriations made at an annual meeting. A special meeting under this paragraph shall not be petitioned under RSA 39:3 and no petitioned warrant articles shall be inserted in the warrant. The governing body’s warrant shall specify, in one or more articles, the amounts of appropriations proposed for reduction, rescission, or increase from the operating budget or separate warrant articles, or both, adopted at the annual meeting. The governing body of such school district shall post a notice of the meeting, which shall include the warrant, in at least 2 public places within the political subdivision, one of which shall be on the political subdivision’s website, if such exists, at least 7 days prior to the meeting. Additional notice shall be published in a newspaper of local or regional circulation in the political subdivision, provided that if there is no newspaper of local or regional circulation in which notice can be published at least 7 days before the date of the meeting, public notice shall be posted in at least one additional place within the political subdivision. The meeting shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. The most recently updated checklist shall be used. The legislative body, after consultation with the budget committee, may approve or disapprove any proposed reduction, rescission, or increase of appropriations, or may approve lesser reductions, but the legislative body shall not approve greater reductions, or reduce or rescind an appropriation not specified in the warrant, or act on any other business at the meeting. The governing body shall hold a public hearing on the proposed reductions, rescissions, or increase at least 14 days prior to the meeting. Notice of the time, place, and subject of such hearing shall be posted in at least 2 public places within the political subdivision, one of which shall be on the political subdivision’s website, if such exists, at least 7 days prior to the hearing. The provisions of the following chapters of the RSAs, as they apply to special meetings of the legislative body of a school district shall not be required for special meetings held pursuant to this paragraph: RSA 32, RSA 39, RSA 49-D, RSA 197, RSA 654, RSA 669, RSA 670, and RSA 671.
3 New Section; Cities and Wards; Special Meeting. Amend RSA 44 by inserting after section 10-a the following new section:
44:10-b Special Meeting. In response to statutory changes resulting in reductions or increases in distribution of state revenues for education pursuant to RSA 198:41 to school districts which would take effect after the adoption of a new school district budget and would apply in the fiscal year covered by the new budget, the governing body of a city may call a special meeting of the legislative body to consider a reduction, rescission, or increase of appropriations made at an annual meeting. The legislative body may approve or disapprove any proposed reduction, rescission, or increase of appropriations, or may approve lesser reductions. The governing body shall provide notice and hold a public hearing on the proposed reductions, rescissions, or increase in accordance with local practices and procedures for notice of public hearings.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.