SB 304-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2000 SESSION
SENATE BILL 304-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to emergency meetings in towns and school districts.
SPONSORS: Sen. Russman, Dist 19
This bill allows the selectmen of a town or school board of a school district to vote to hold an emergency special meeting if an emergency arises requiring an immediate expenditure of money without petitioning the superior court for permission.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
00-2711
08/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand
AN ACT relative to emergency meetings in towns and school districts.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Powers and Duties of Towns; Special Meetings; Emergencies. Amend RSA 31:5, I to read as follows:
I.(a) No money shall be raised or appropriated or shall any appropriation previously made be reduced or rescinded at any special town meeting except by vote by ballot, nor unless the ballots cast at such meeting shall be equal in number to at least 1/2 of the number of legal voters borne on the checklist of the town entitled to vote at the annual or biennial election next preceding such special meeting; and such checklist, corrected according to law, shall be used at any meeting upon the request of 10 legal voters of the town. This section shall not apply to money to be raised for the public defense or any military purpose in time of war. In case an emergency arises requiring an immediate expenditure of money, the selectmen may [petition the superior court for permission] vote to hold a special town meeting which, if [granted] held, shall give said meeting the same authority as an annual town meeting.
(b) "Emergency" for the purposes of this section shall mean a sudden or unexpected situation or occurrence, or combination of occurrences, of a serious and urgent nature, that demands prompt, or immediate action, including an immediate expenditure of money. This definition, however, does not establish a requirement that an emergency involves a crisis in every set of circumstances.
[(c) To verify that an emergency exists, a petitioner shall present, and the court shall consider, a number of factors including:
(1) The severity of the harm to be avoided.
(2) The urgency of the petitioner's need.
(3) Whether the claimed emergency was foreseeable or avoidable.
(4) Whether the appropriation could have been made at the annual meeting.
(5) Whether there are alternative remedies not requiring an appropriation.]
2 Powers and Duties of Towns; Special Meetings. Amend RSA 31:5, III and IV to read as follows:
III. In the event that the legislative body at an annual meeting amends or rejects the cost items or fact finder's reports as submitted pursuant to RSA 273-A, notwithstanding [paragraphs] paragraph I [and II], the selectmen may call one special meeting for the sole purpose of addressing all negotiated cost items without [petitioning the superior court for authorization] voting to hold an emergency special meeting. Such special meeting may be authorized only by a contingent warrant article inserted on the warrant or official ballot either by petition or by the governing body. The wording of the question shall be as follows: "Shall (the local political subdivision), if article ________ is defeated, authorize the governing body to call one special meeting, at its option, to address article ________ cost items only?" The refusal of the legislative body to authorize a special meeting as provided in this paragraph shall not affect any other provision of law. Any special meeting held under this paragraph shall be combined with the revised operating budget meeting under RSA 40:13, XI, if any, and shall not be counted toward the number of special meetings which may be held in a given calendar or fiscal year.
IV. When the selectmen vote to [petition the superior court for permission to] hold [a] an emergency special town meeting, the selectmen shall post notice of such vote within 24 hours after taking the vote [and a minimum of 10 days prior to filing the petition with the court. The selectmen shall post notice of the court date for an evidentiary hearing on the petition within 24 hours after receiving notice of the court date from the court]. Such [notices] notice shall be posted at the office of the selectmen and at 2 or more other conspicuous places in the town, and in the next available edition of a local newspaper with a wide circulation in the town.
3 Municipal Finance Act; Town or District Bonds or Notes; Emergencies. Amend RSA 33:8 to read as follows:
33:8 Town or District Bonds or Notes. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, the issue of bonds or notes by any municipal corporation, except a city or a town which has adopted a charter pursuant to RSA 49-B, without a budgetary town meeting, and except a school district or municipality which has adopted official ballot voting procedures pursuant to RSA 40:13 shall be authorized by a vote by ballot of 2/3, and the issue of tax anticipation notes, by a vote of a majority, of all the voters present and voting at an annual or special meeting of such corporation, called for the purpose. The issue of notes or bonds by a school district or municipality which has adopted official ballot voting procedures pursuant to RSA 40:13 shall be authorized by a vote of 3/5. No such action taken at any special meeting shall be valid unless a majority of all the legal voters are present and vote at such special meeting, unless the governing board of any municipality shall [petition the superior court for permission] vote to hold an emergency special meeting, which, if granted, shall give said special meeting the same authority as an annual meeting. The warrant for a special meeting shall be published once in a newspaper having a general circulation in the municipality within one week after the posting of such special meeting. The warrant for any such annual or special meeting shall be served or posted at least 14 days before the date of such special meeting. Every warrant shall be deemed to have been duly served or posted, if the return on the warrant shall so state, and it shall be certified by the officer or officers required to serve or post the same. All bonds or notes, authorized in accordance with this chapter, shall be signed by the governing board, or a majority of the governing board, and countersigned by the treasurer of the municipality, and shall have the corporate seal, if any, affixed to it. The discretion of fixing the date, maturities, denominations, the interest rate, or discount rate in the case of notes, the place of payment, the form and other details of said bonds or notes and of providing for the sale of such bonds or notes, may be delegated to the governing board or to the treasurer and shall, to the extent provision therefor shall not have been made in the vote authorizing the same, be deemed to have been delegated to the governing board.
4 School Meetings and Officers; Raising Money at Special Meetings; Emergencies. Amend RSA 197:3, I to read as follows:
I.(a) No school district at any special meeting shall raise or appropriate money nor reduce or rescind any appropriation made at a previous meeting, unless the vote thereon is by ballot, nor unless the ballots cast at such meeting shall be equal in number to at least 1/2 of the number of voters of such district entitled to vote at the regular meeting next preceding such special meeting; and, if a checklist was used at the last preceding regular meeting, the same shall be used to ascertain the number of legal voters in said district; and such checklist, corrected according to law, may be used at such special meeting upon request of 10 legal voters of the district. In case an emergency arises requiring an immediate expenditure of money, the school board may [petition the superior court for permission] vote to hold a special district meeting, which, if [granted] held, shall give said district meeting the same authority as an annual district meeting.
(b) "Emergency" for the purposes of this section shall mean a sudden or unexpected situation or occurrence, or combination of occurrences, of a serious and urgent nature, that demands prompt or immediate action, including an immediate expenditure of money. This definition, however, does not establish a requirement that an emergency involves a crisis in every set of circumstances.
[(c) To verify that an emergency exists, a petitioner shall present, and the court shall consider, a number of factors including:
(1) The severity of the harm to be avoided.
(2) The urgency of the petitioner's need.
(3) Whether the claimed emergency was foreseeable or avoidable.
(4) Whether the appropriation could have been made at the annual meeting.
(5) Whether there are alternative remedies not requiring an appropriation.]
5 School Meetings and Officers; Raising Money at Special Meetings; Emergencies. Amend RSA 197:3, III and IV to read as follows:
III. In the event that the legislative body at an annual meeting amends or rejects the cost items or fact finder's reports as submitted pursuant to RSA 273-A, notwithstanding [paragraphs] paragraph I [and II], the school board may call one special meeting for the sole purpose of addressing all negotiated cost items without [petitioning the superior court for authorization] voting to hold an emergency special meeting. Such special meeting may be authorized only by a contingent warrant article inserted on the warrant or official ballot either by petition or by the governing body. The wording of the question shall be as follows: "Shall (the local political subdivision), if article _____ is defeated, authorize the governing body to call one special meeting, at its option, to address article _____ cost items only?" The refusal of the legislative body to authorize a special meeting as provided in this paragraph shall not affect any other provision of law. Any special meeting held under this paragraph shall be combined with the revised operating budget meeting under RSA 40:13, XI, if any, and shall not be counted toward the number of special meetings which may be held in a given calendar or fiscal year.
IV. When the school board votes to[ petition the superior court for permission to] hold [a] an emergency special school district meeting, the school board shall post notice of such vote within 24 hours after taking the vote [and a minimum of 10 days prior to filing the petition with the court. The school board shall post notice of the court date for an evidentiary hearing on the petition within 24 hours after receiving notice of the court date from the court]. Such [notices] notice shall be posted at the office of the school board and at 2 or more other conspicuous places in the school district, and in the next available edition of one or more local newspapers with a wide circulation in the school district. If the district is a multi-town school district, the notices shall be posted at the office of the school board and at 2 or more other conspicuous places in each town of the multi-town school district, and in the next available edition of one or more newspapers with a wide circulation in all towns of the multi-town school district.
6 New Hampshire-Vermont Interstate School Compact; Special Meetings. Amend RSA 200-B:1, Article IV, H to read as follows:
H. Special Meetings. A special meeting of the district shall be held whenever, in the opinion of the directors, there is occasion therefor, or whenever written application shall have been made by 5 percent or more of the voters (based on the checklists as prepared for the last preceding meeting) setting forth the subject matter upon which such action is desired. [A special meeting may appropriate money without compliance with RSA 33:8 or RSA 197:3 which would otherwise require the approval of the New Hampshire superior court.]
7 New Hampshire-Maine Interstate School Compact; Special Meetings. Amend RSA 200-F:1, Article IV, H to read as follows:
H. Special Meetings. A special meeting of the district shall be held whenever, in the opinion of the directors, there is occasion therefor, or whenever written application shall have been made by 5 percent or more of the voters based on the checklists as prepared for the last preceding meeting, setting forth the subject matter upon which such action is desired. [A special meeting may appropriate money without compliance with RSA 33:8 or RSA 197:3 which would otherwise require the approval of the New Hampshire superior court.]
8 Repeal. The following are repealed:
I. RSA 31:5, II, relative to petition by selectmen to superior court for an emergency special meeting.
II. RSA 197:3, II, relative to petition by school board to superior court for an emergency special meeting.
9 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2001.