HB336: relative to the development and adoption of the school administrative unit budget.

CHAPTER 279

HB 336-LOCAL - FINAL VERSION

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2003 SESSION

03-0162

04/10

HOUSE BILL 336-LOCAL

AN ACT relative to the development and adoption of the school administrative unit budget.

SPONSORS: Rep. Alger, Graf 14; Rep. Kurk, Hills 48; Rep. Slocum, Hills 47; Rep. T. Allen, Hills 45; Rep. Emerton, Hills 48

COMMITTEE: Education

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill sets forth the procedure for an alternative method of adopting the school administrative unit budget and requires that the school administrative unit board shall prepare a preliminary budget for approval at a joint meeting of the school districts in the school administrative unit.

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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

20feb03... 0253h

05/29/03 1743s

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03-0162

04/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT relative to the development and adoption of the school administrative unit budget.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

279:1 New Paragraph; School Administrative Units; Budget Adoption Process Amended. Amend RSA 194-C:9 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:

III. Paragraph I of this section shall not apply to school districts which have adopted the provisions of RSA 194-C:9-a.

279:2 New Sections; School Administrative Units; Alternative Procedure for Budget Adoption. Amend RSA 194-C by inserting after section 9 the following new sections:

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 town 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. 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 school district meetings?"

(c) If a majority of the voters 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 the school districts within that school administrative unit, and shall continue until rescinded.

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, 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. 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 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.

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.(a) For school administrative units composed of 2 or more town school districts, the budget adopted in RSA 194-C:9-a, I may be placed before the voters of each school district of that school administrative unit at the annual school district meeting in a separate warrant article and adopted by majority vote of all the districts. 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. If the budget is not adopted, the amount accepted shall be that of the previous year adjusted for continuing contracts. The vote of each town school district on this warrant shall be given by the respective town clerks to the superintendent of the school administrative unit who shall accumulate the total vote for all the towns and announce the result. Wording of the warrant article shall be as follows:

"Shall the voters of (name of town) 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 town, will be adopted if the article does not receive the weighted majority vote of the school district voters in this school administrative unit."

(b) School administrative units consisting of one or more cities and one or more towns shall be required to accept the school administrative unit budget adopted by the provisions of paragraph I by the school administrative unit board.

II. This section shall not apply to a city maintaining a school department within its corporate organization, or a school district within a city regardless of whether the city operates the school district or not.

279:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

(Approved: July 18, 2003)

(Effective Date: September 16, 2003)