An Act To Enable Unorganized Territory Townships To Become a Municipality II
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0430
Committee Amendment CA_A_H175 (House)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " A " to H.P. 346, L.D. 430, Bill, "An Act To 
Enable Unorganized Territory Townships To Become a Municipality" 
II 
Amend the bill in section 1 in §7111 by striking out all of subsections 1 to 3 (page I, 
lines 6 to 29 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'1. Petition. The voters of one to 3 contiguous unincorporated townships in the 
unorganized territory within one county with a minimum combined resident population of 
inhabitants may, by petition of 20% or more of the voters of the township or 
townships submitted to the county commissioners, request a public meeting for the 
purpose of discussing and determining whether the township or townships should 
organize as a municipality. 
2. Warrant for organization meeting. In response to the petition in subsection 1, 
the county commissioners shall issue a warrant to notify the voters of the unincorporated 
township or townships to assemble on a day and at a place named in the warrant for a 
special meeting with the purpose of discussing and determining whether the township or 
townships should organize as a municipality. The notice of the meeting must be mailed 
to every resident within the proposed area at least 14 days prior to the meeting. The 
notice must also be mailed at the same time to the fiscal administrator of the unorganized 
territory within the Department of Audit, the director of schools in the unorganized 
territory within the Department of Education, the supervisor of the unorganized territory 
property tax division within Maine Revenue Services, the director of the Maine Land Use 
Regulation Commission and a representative of a statewide agency representing 
municipalities appointed by the county commissioners. An attested copy of the warrant 
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for the meeting must also be posted in 2 conspicuous public places if such places exist in 
the township or townships. 
3. Organization procedure. At the time and place appointed for a meeting for the 
organization of a municipality under subsection 2, a moderator must be chosen by ballot 
by the voters present to preside at the meeting. The county commissioner who represents 
the township or townships shall preside until the moderator is chosen and sworn in. After 
a discussion including a question and answer period with the voters of the township or 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A " 
to H.P. 346, L.D. 430 
townships, the county commissioners and any state officials and representatives of a 
statewide agency representing municipalities listed in subsection 2 that are present, a vote 
must be taken on the question of whether the township or townships will continue to 
pursue the process of organizing as a municipality.' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in §7111 in subsection 4 in the last line (page I, line 32 in 
L.D.) by inserting after the following: 
"municipality" the following: 'or a township 
without a resident population' 
Amend the bill in section I in § 7111 in subsection 5 in the next to the last line (page 
1, line 37 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: 
"ballot." the following: 
'Each 
township must have at least one resident member on the interim committee.' 
II 
Amend the bill in section I in §7111 in subsection 6 in the next to the last line (page 
2, line 12 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "names" the following: " addresses 
and telephone numbers' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in § 7112 in the first paragraph in the 4th and 5th lines 
(page 2, lines 18 and 19 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "within Maine Revenue 
Services and the" and inserting the following: 
'property tax division within Maine 
Revenue Services and the director of the' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in §7112 by inserting before subsection I the following: 
'1. Effective date. The effective date of the township's or townships' becoming a 
municipality;' 
Amend the bill in section I in §7112 in subsection 5 in the 3rd line (page 2, line 34 in 
L.D.) by inserting after the following: "maintenance," the following: 'snow removal,' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in §7112 by renumbering the subsections to read 
consecutively. 
Amend the bill in section 1 in §7113 in the first paragraph in the 2nd line (page 3, 
line 14 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: 
"to the" the following: 
'county 
commissioners and the' 
Amend the bill in section I by striking out all of §§7115 and 7116 and inserting the 
following: 
'§7115. Approval by the voters 
1. Warrant for meeting. The county commissioners shall issue a warrant to notify 
the voters of the proposed municipality to assemble on a day and at a place named in the 
warrant for a special meeting for the purpose of determining whether voters are in favor 
of implementing the organization procedure under section 7113 that would result in the 
formation of a new municipality. The notice of the meeting must be mailed to every 
resident within the proposed area at least 14 days prior to the meeting. The notice must 
also be mailed at the same time to the fiscal administrator of the unorganized territory 
within the Department of Audit, the director of schools in the unorganized territory within 
the Department of Education, the supervisor of the unorganized territory property tax 
division within Maine Revenue Services. the director of the Maine Land Use Regulation 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A " 
to H.P. 346, L.D. 430 
Commission and a representative of a statewide agency representing municipalities 
appointed by the county commissioners. An attested copy of the warrant for the meeting 
must also be posted in 2 conspicuous public places if such places exist in the township or 
townships. 
2. Organization meeting. After a discussion of the organization procedure and a 
question and answer period with the voters of the proposed municipality, the interim 
committee members, the county commissioners and any state officials and representatives 
of a statewide agency representing municipalities listed in subsection 1 that are present, a 
vote must be taken on the issue of whether a new municipality should be formed 
according to the organization procedure. If a majority of voters at the meeting vote in 
favor, then the organization procedure must proceed. Written notification of the outcome 
of the vote must be sent to the fiscal administrator of the unorganized territory within the 
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Department of Audit and the Executive Director of the Legislative Council. 
§7116. Approval by the Legislature 
1. Organization procedure. Once the voters have approved the procedure pursuant 
to section 7115, the township or townships seeking to organize as a municipality shall 
submit legislation to incorporate the township or townships to the Legislature. If the 
Legislature approves the organization, the question must be submitted to the voters of the 
township or townships in the next general election to be held in November. The election 
must be called, advertised and conducted according to section 2528 or 2551. 
I 
A. The county shall prepare the ballots on which the following question must appear: 
"Shall the (name or names of township or townships) be organized into a 
municipality?" 
B. The voters must indicate their opinion on this question by a cross or check mark 
placed against the word "Yes" or "No." Organization must be approved by a maiority 
of the legal voters voting at the election as long as the total numbers of votes cast for 
and against equals or exceeds 50% of the total number of votes cast in the 
unorganized township or townships for Governor in the last gubernatorial election. 
C. The county commissioners shall declare the result of the vote. The county clerk 
or county commissioners shall file a certificate of the election result with the 
I 
Secretary of State within 10 days of the election.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment makes several clarifications to the bilI. It removes the requirement 
for a census to establish the resident population of the unincorporated township or 
townships. It also prohibits townships without a resident population from being included 
in the proposed municipality. The county commissioners are required to send notice to 
all residents in the unincorporated township or townships discussing possible 
organization rather than posting it in the newspaper. 
Notice of the organizational 
meetings and public hearing must be mailed to the fiscal administrator ofthe unorganized 
territory, the director of schools in the unorganized territory, the supervisor of the 
unorganized territory property tax division, the director of the Maine Land Use 
Regulation Commission and a representative from a statewide organization representing 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " ~ " to H.P. 346, L.D. 430 
I 
municipalities appointed by the county commissioners. The amendment also requires 
that the effective date of organization be included in the organization procedure and it 
specifies the question that must be in the referendum to finally approve organization. 
FISCAL .\U i ~ H . .I:..(2ll1<..[1) 
(Se~ ,~tt~c~~~)_ 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Revised: 04126/07 
~ac:.. 
LD430 
LR 475(02) 
An Act To Enable Unorganized Territory Townships To Become a Municipality 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" 
Committee: State and Local Government 
State Mandates 
Required Activity 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential current biennium cost increase - General Fund 
State Mandate - Unfunded 
The requirement that county commissioners undertake a process to allow a township 
or townships to organize as a municipality is a state mandate pursuant to the Maine 
Constitution. The additional local costs to organize public meetings, to conduct 
referendum voting and implement other requirements are expected to be significant. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Unit Affected 
County 
Costs 
Significant 
Enactment of this legislation will develop a procedure to allow certain townships in the Unorganized Territory to 
organize as a municipality. If one to three townships were to organize into a town, there could be costs to the state for 
school subsidies, Tree Growth Reimbursement, Veterans Exemption Reimbursement, Revenue Sharing, education 
costs, ministerial and school trust funds, General Assistance, Forest Fire Protection and other potential costs. The 
minor costs associated with the Office of the Executive Director providing certain information to the joint Standing 
Committee on State and Local Government can be absorbed by the Legislature utilizing existing budgeted resources. 
Providing for up to 3 townships in the Unorganized Territory to organize as a municipality will increase the total cost 
of providing K-12 public education. The amount can not be determined at this time and will depend on the number of 
townships in the new municipality, the assessed valuation of the new municipality, the number of resident pupils in 
the new municipality, pupil transportation costs and special education costs. 
LR0475(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1