Why the Selectmen and School Board Want To Abolish the Budget Committee

HB 1376 – AS INTRODUCED

2012 SESSION

12-2350
06/10
HOUSE BILL 1376
AN ACT relative to amending warrant articles in towns that have adopted the official ballot referendum form of meeting.
SPONSORS: Rep. Pratt, Hills 7; Rep. Hikel, Hills 7
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government

ANALYSIS

This bill prohibits an official ballot referendum town from amending at the deliberative session any warrant representing the operating budget if such town has established a municipal budget committee.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12-2350
06/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve

AN ACT relative to amending warrant articles in towns that have adopted the official ballot referendum form of meeting.

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

1 Budget Preparation. Amend RSA 32:5, V(b) to read as follows:
(b) If the article is amended at the first session of the meeting in an official ballot referendum municipality that has not established a municipal budget committee, the governing body [and the budget committee, if one exists,] may revise its recommendation on the amended version of the special warrant article and the revised recommendation shall appear on the ballot for the second session of the meeting provided, however, that the 10 percent limitation on expenditures provided for in RSA 32:18 shall be calculated based upon the initial recommendations of the budget committee;
2 Limitation of Appropriations. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 32:18 to read as follows:
32:18 Limitation of Appropriations. In an official ballot referendum municipality electing this subdivision, the recommendation of the budget committee made for the first session of the meeting shall be the amount appropriated. In any other municipality electing this subdivision, or any district wholly within a town electing this subdivision, the total amount appropriated at any annual meeting shall not exceed by more than 10 percent the total amount recommended by the budget committee for such meeting. [In official ballot referendum municipalities, the recommendation of the budget committee made for the first session of the meeting shall be used for determining the 10 percent limitation.] These totals shall include appropriations contained in special warrant articles. Money may be raised and appropriated for purposes included in the budget or in the warrant and not recommended by the budget committee, but not to an amount which would increase the total appropriations by more than the 10 percent allowed under this paragraph. The 10 percent increase allowable under this paragraph shall be computed on the total amount recommended by the budget committee less that part of any appropriation item which constitutes fixed charges. Fixed charges shall include appropriations for:
3 New Subparagraph; Use of the Official Ballot; Amendment of Warrant Articles. Amend RSA 40:13, IV by inserting after subparagraph (b) the following new subparagraph:
(c) In towns that have established a budget committee under RSA 32, no warrant article representing the operating budget of the town, a school district within the town, or a village district within the town, shall be amended.
4 Legislative Body Override of Limitation of Appropriations. Amend RSA 32:18-a, I to read as follows:
I. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any municipality electing this subdivision[,] or any district wholly within a town electing this subdivision, except an official ballot referendum municipality, if a bond request is not recommended in its entirety by the budget committee, the governing body of such municipality, after a majority vote by the governing body of the municipality in favor of the bond request at a duly posted meeting, shall place the bond request on the warrant.
5 At Special Meetings. Amend RSA 32:20 to read as follows:
32:20 At Special Meetings. So long as the provisions of this subdivision remain in force in any municipality, no appropriation shall be made at any special meeting for any purpose not approved by the budget committee, unless it is within the allowable 10 percent increase [if] of RSA 32:18 [has been adopted], except as provided in RSA 32:19 or 32:18-a.
6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.