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An Act To Exempt Certain Municipalities from the Requirement To Hold Referenda on School Budgets
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §2307, first ¶,  as amended by PL 2007, c. 668, §28 and affected by §55, is further amended to read:
Notwithstanding any other law, municipal school budgets developed after January 1, 2008 must follow the same school budget requirements as regional school units pursuant to chapter 103-A, except as described in subsections 1 and 2to 3. A municipal school unit is deemed to be a regional school unit solely for the purpose of developing a budget pursuant to chapter 103-A.
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §2307, sub-§3  is enacted to read:
 
3.  Exemptions.     The requirements of section 1486 do not apply in charter municipalities where the municipal council or other municipal legislative body is an elected body, where the school committee or school board is an elected body and where the municipal charter requires that a public hearing and one or more budget meetings are held on the proposed school budget before the municipal council or other municipal legislative body approves the school budget.
 
SUMMARY
This bill provides an exemption from the budget validation referendum voting requirements for municipal school units where the municipal charter provides that the municipal legislative body and the school committee are elected bodies and where the municipal charter requires that a public hearing and one or more budget meetings are held on the proposed school budget before the municipal legislative body votes to adopt the school budget.