An Act To Streamline Sewer District Borrowing and Amend Laws Governing Water District Borrowing To Ensure Consistency Further amend the bill by inserting after the title and before the enacting clause the following: . Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts of the Legislature do not become effective until· 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and Whereas, it is necessary to immediately clarify the authority of a water district to hold a referendum outside the territory of that district when the usual voting place is located outside the territory of the district: and Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety: now, therefore, Further amend the bill by striking out all of section 1 and inserting in its place the following: Page 1-LR1633(2) COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 0864
Committee Amendment CA_A_H184 (House)
Amends: 35-A MRSA §6413-A

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ·A" to H.P. 615, L.D. 864, Bill, "An 
Act To Streamline Sewer District and Sanitary District Borrowing" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting 
the following: 
. An Act To Streamline Sewer District Borrowing and Amend Laws 
Governing Water District Borrowing To Ensure Consistency' 
Further amend the bill by inserting after the title and 
before the enacting clause the following: 
. Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts of the Legislature do not 
become effective until· 90 days after adjournment unless enacted 
as emergencies; and 
Whereas, it 
is 
necessary 
to 
immediately 
clarify 
the 
authority of a water district to hold a referendum outside the 
territory of that district when the usual voting place is located 
outside the territory of the district: and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts 
create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of 
Maine 
and 
require 
the 
following 
legislation 
as 
immediately 
necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and 
safety: now, therefore,' 
Further amend the bill by striking out all of section 1 and 
inserting in its place the following: 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
;~~. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 'A" to H.P. 615, L.D. 864 
'Sec. 1. 35·A MRSA §6413, first 1r, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 
616, §10, is amended to read: 
Prior to issuing on behalf of a standard district any bond, 
note or other evidence of indebtedness payable within a period of 
more than 12 months after the date of issuance, the trustees 
shall propose a debt limit for the standard district that the 
trustees must submit for approval in a districtwide referendum. 
The referendum must be called, advertised and conducted according 
to the law relating to municipal elections, except the standard 
district's registrar of voters is not required to prepare or the 
clerk to post a new list of voters. 
The referendum may be held 
outside the territory of the district if the usual voting place 
for persons located within the district is located outside the 
territory of 
the district. 
For 
the 
purpose 
of 
registering 
voters, the registrar of voters must be in session on the regular 
workday preceding the election. 
The question presented must 
conform to one of the following forms: 
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §6413-A, 2nd 1r, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 
147, §3, is amended to read: 
If a 
water district chooses to increase its debt limit 
pursuant 
to this section, 
the governing 
body 
of 
the water 
district shall propose a new debt limit and submit the proposal 
for approval at a districtwide referendum w:i.t;h:i.N.--t-he--El:i.st;p:i.et. 
The referendum must be called, advertised and conducted according 
to the law relating to municipal elections, except the registrar 
of voters is not required to prepare or the clerk to post a new 
list of voters. 
The referendum may be held outside the territory 
of the district if the usual voting place for persons located 
within the district is located outside the territory of the 
district. 
For the purpose of registering voters, the registrar 
of voters must be in session on the regular work day preceding 
the 
election. 
The 
question presented 
must 
conform 
to 
the 
following form: 
"Do you favor changing the debt limit of the (insert name of 
district) 
from 
(insert 
current 
debt 
limit) 
to 
(insert 
proposed debt limit)?" , 
Further amend the bill 
"§1256." 
in subsection 
indented paragraph (page 2, 
in its place the following: 
in section 2 in that part designated 
by striking out all of 
the first 
lines 9 to 19 in L.D.) and inserting 
• 2. 
Referendum. 
If a sewer district chooses to increase 
its debt limit pursuant to this section, the governing body of 
the sewer district shall propose a new debt limit and submit the 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
/ 
, • 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ·A" to H.P. 615, L.D. 864 
proposal 
for 
approval 
at 
a 
districtwide 
referendum. 
The 
referendum must be called, advertised and conducted according to 
the law relating to municipal elections, except the registrar of 
voters is not required to prepare or the clerk to post a new list 
of voters. 
The referendum may be held outside the terri tory of 
the district if the usual voting place for persons located within 
the district is located outside the territory of the district. 
For the purpose of registering voters, the registrar of voters 
must 
be 
in session on 
the 
regular 
work 
day preceding 
the 
election. 
The g;uestion presented must be in substantially the 
following form:' 
Further amend the bill by inserting at the end before the 
summary the following: 
. Emergency clause. 
In view of the emergency cited in the 
preamble, this Act takes effect when approved •• 
Further amend the 
nonconsecutive 
consecutively. 
Part 
bill by relettering 
letter 
or 
section 
SUMMARY 
or renumbering 
number 
to 
any 
read 
This 
amendment 
makes 
certain technical 
changes 
to 
the 
language of the bill and makes explicit that a 
referendum to 
increase a 
sewer district debt limit can be held outside the 
territory of the district if the usual voting place is located 
outside the territory of the district. 
It also makes this same 
change to the laws authorizing water districts to raise their 
debt limits by referenda. 
The amendment removes section 1 of the 
bill, 
which 
proposed 
to 
provide 
a 
referendum 
option 
for 
increasing the debt limits of sanitary districts. 
Since the 
sanitary district enabling law does not include a debt limit, 
there is no need for a process to change a sanitary district debt 
limit. 
The sanitary district law currently provides for a voter 
petition process 
to call 
for 
a 
referendum 
on certain debt 
issuances. 
This amendment also changes the title and adds an 
emergency preamble and emergency clause to the bill. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT