As we continue this tale for all Budget Committees in NH, my “technical correction” to RSA 32 has gone from idea to LSR into the format as a bill:
Section 1 Header
2019 SESSION
19-0573.0
06/05
HOUSE BILL [bill number]
AN ACT relative to municipal and district budget committees.
SPONSORS: [sponsors]
COMMITTEE: [committee]
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits governing bodies from transferring certain appropriations in the municipal budget.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type
*****
Section 2 Header
19-0573.0
06/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen
AN ACT relative to municipal and district budget committees.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Municipal Budget Law; Budget Preparation. Amend RSA 32:5, VI to read as follows:
VI. Upon completion of the budgets, an original of each budget and of each recommendation
upon special warrant articles, signed by a quorum of the governing body, or of the budget
committee, if any, shall be placed on file with the town or district clerk. A copy of the budget
committee exceptions report, signed by the chair of the budget committee, shall also be
placed on file with the town or district clerk. A certified copy of each budget and a certified
copy of the budget committee exceptions report shall be forwarded by the chair of the budget
committee, if any, or otherwise by the chair of the governing body, to the commissioner of revenue
administration pursuant to RSA 21-J:34.
2 Transfer of Appropriations; Exception. Amend RSA 32:10, I(b) to read as follows:
(b) Records shall be kept by the governing body, such that the budget committee, if any,
or any citizen requesting such records pursuant to RSA 91-A:4, may ascertain the purposes of
appropriations to which, and from which, amounts have been transferred; provided, however, that
neither the budget committee nor other citizens shall have any authority to dispute or challenge the
discretion of the governing body in making such transfers, unless such transfers begin or end in
a general ledger line level account enumerated in the budget committee exception report.
3 Emergency Expenditures and Overexpenditures. Amend RSA 32:11, I to read as follows:
I. Such application shall be made prior to the making of such expenditure. No such
authority shall be granted [until a majority of the budget committee, if any, has approved the
application in writing] if such a purpose or general ledger line level account is explicitly
enumerated on the budget committee exception report. If there is no such report or
enumeration, then such authority shall be granted when a majority of the budget
committee, if any, has approved the application in writing. If there is no budget committee,
the governing body shall hold a public hearing on the request, with notice as provided in RSA 91-
A:2.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
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Now, there’s no official Bill Number for it yet (even as almost 900 House Bills HAVE been created from over 1,100 Legislative Service Requests for this new session), it should have one soon and we’ll find out what House Committee (probably will be Municipal and County) will be hearing the bill.
Anybody see any holes in the above? Again, the purpose is to make “No mean NO!” – that if the BudComm decides and the Legislative Body (the voters in the town) agree, the Governing Bodies (Selectmen or School Boards) can NOT do any transfers at the GL account ledger to spend for a “Purpose” that the BudComm has said “thou shalt not spend” by zeroing out that particular line item. Its purpose is to override the “hole” in the NH Department of Revenues in which “Purpose” is defined only at the MS-Form line level (which are aggregations of the GL account line levels that BudComms and townfolks discuss and vote upon.
Or, as I put it here:
Summary: This is an Act that remedies a technical problem within the current Municipal and School District budget process that allows Governing Bodies (Selectmen, School Boards) to transgress the fiscal policies of Budget Committees and votes of the Legislative Bodies (e.g., local voters). Current law and regulations allow Governing Bodies to effectively overrule those budgetary approvals at the General Ledger line level by transferal of monies at the Departmental of Revenue Administration MS-Form level.
Thoughts?
