HB 0194

CHAPTER 71

HB 194 - FINAL VERSION

AN ACT relative to municipal budget hearings, recommendations, and reports.

SPONSORS: Rep. Patten, Carr 9

This bill makes technical corrections to certain laws administered by the department of revenue administration. This bill changes to one week later the final date for posting notice of budget hearings in municipalities operating under the official ballot referendum form of meeting.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT relative to municipal budget hearings, recommendations, and reports.

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

71:1 Department of Revenue Administration; Property Tax Rates; Reports Required; Filing of Budget. Amend RSA 21-J:34, VI to read as follows:

VI.(a) The governing body of the town, school district, or village district, or the budget committee in towns operating under the municipal budget law, shall file the budget within 20 days of the close of the annual or special meeting.

(b) The governing body of a city shall file the budget within 20 days of the adoption of any budget resolution.

(c) The governing body of a town which has adopted a charter pursuant to RSA 49-B and does not have a budgetary town meeting, shall file the budget within 20 days of the adoption of any budget resolution.

71:2 Municipal Budget Law; Budget Preparation; Information Included in Budget Forms. Amend RSA 32:5, IV(c)-(d) to read as follows:

(c) [~~The~~] All appropriations, including appropriations contained in special warrant articles, recommended by the governing body.

(d) If there is a budget committee, all the appropriations, including appropriations contained in special warrant articles, recommended by the budget committee.

71:3 Municipal Budget Law; Municipal Obligations; Technical Correction. Amend RSA 32:13, I to read as follows:

I. This subdivision shall not be construed to imply that a local legislative body, through its actions on appropriations, has the authority to nullify a prior contractual obligation of the municipality, when such obligation is not contingent upon such appropriations and is otherwise valid under the New Hampshire law of municipal contracts, or to nullify any other binding state or federal legal obligation which [~~supercedes~~] supersedes the authority of the local legislative body.

71:4 Municipal Budget Law; Collective Bargaining Agreements; Appropriations Not Recommended by the Budget Committee. Amend RSA 32:19 to read as follows:

32:19 Collective Bargaining Agreements. Whenever items or portions of items in a proposed budget constitute appropriations, the purpose of which is to implement cost items of a collective bargaining agreement negotiated pursuant to RSA 273-A, either previously ratified or concurrently being submitted for ratification by the legislative body, or the purpose of which is to implement the recommendations of a neutral party in the case of a dispute, as provided in RSA 273-A:12, such items shall be submitted to the budget committee and considered in its budget preparation. Such appropriations shall be submitted to the legislative body and shall include a statement of the governing body's recommendation and a separate statement of the budget committee's recommendation. If such appropriations were not recommended by the budget committee, then such appropriations shall be exempt from the 10 percent limitation set forth in RSA 32:18. The failure of the budget committee to recommend any portion of such appropriations shall not be deemed an unfair labor practice under RSA 273-A.

71:5 Official Ballot Referendum Form of Meeting; Final Date for Posting Notice of Hearings; Towns With March Meeting. Amend RSA 40:13, II-a(a) to read as follows:

(a) The final date for posting notice of budget hearings under RSA 32:5 and RSA 195:12 and hearings under RSA 33:8-a shall be the [~~first~~] second Tuesday in January.

71:6 Official Ballot Referendum Form of Meeting; Final Date for Posting Notice of Hearings; Towns With April Meeting. Amend RSA 40:13, II-b(a) to read as follows:

(a) The final date for posting notice of budget hearings under RSA 32:5 and RSA 195:12 and hearings under RSA 33:8-a shall be the [~~first~~] second Tuesday in February.

71:7 Official Ballot Referendum Form of Meeting; Final Date for Posting Notice of Hearings; Towns With May Meeting. Amend RSA 40:13, II-c(a) to read as follows:

(a) The final date for posting notice of budget hearings under RSA 32:5 and RSA 195:12 and hearings under RSA 33:8-a shall be the [~~first~~] second Tuesday in March.

71:8 School Money; Excess Education Property Tax Payment. Amend RSA 198:46, I to read as follows:

I. Municipalities for which the education property tax exceeds the amount necessary to fund an adequate education determined by RSA 198:40 shall [~~collect~~] assess and remit such excess amount to the department of revenue administration on or before March 15 of the tax year in which the excess occurs.