An Act To Amend the Authorization Procedures for Certain Municipal and School Budgets
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1766
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: WOODBURY
Amends: 20-A MRSA §15690-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1766 
H.P. 1232 
House of Representati ves, March 27, 2007 
An Act To Amend the Authorization Procedures for Certain 
Municipal and School Budgets 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative WOODBURY of Yarmouth. 
Pnnt~d nn recydt:d paper 
111~ 
1?7.7l/d£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 20-A MRS A §15690, first ~, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 2, Pt. D, §62, 
affected by §§72 and 74 and affected by c. 12, Pt. WW, §18, is amended to read: 
Beginning with the budget for the 2005-2006 school year and ending with the budget 
for the 2007-2008 school year, the following provisions apply to local appropriations for 
school purposes. 
See~ 2. 20-A MRSA §15690-A is enacted to read: 
§15690-A. Local appropriations 
Beginning with the budget for the 2008-2009 school year, the following provisions 
apply to locall, appropriations for school purposes. 
1. Essential oro!!rams and services article. The legislative body of each school 
administrative unit must raise and appropriate a certain amount of local funds in order to 
support essential programs and services costs, as described in the Essential Programs and 
Services Funding Act, and be eligible for its full share of school subsidy from the State. 
An article and explanation in substantially the following form must be used when 
considering the local contribution to essential programs and services costs. 
"Article ..... : To see what sum (municipality or district) will appropriate for the total 
cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the 
Essential Programs and Services Funding Act (Recommend $ ...... ) and to see what 
sum the (municipality or district) will raise as the local contribution to these costs. 
(Recommend $ ...... )" 
"Explanation: Essential programs and services costs, or EPS costs, are those costs 
determined by the State to be necessary to meet the State's learning results standards. 
For fiscal year ........ , total EPS costs for (municipality or district) are $....... to be 
funded through a state allocation of $ ........ and a local contribution of $....... Support 
of this article is required in order to receive the full state subsidy." 
2. 
Non-state-funded debt service article. 
For a school administrative unit's 
indebtedness previously approved by its legislative body for non-state-funded major 
capital school construction projects or non-state-funded portions of major capital school 
construction projects and minor capital projects, the legislative body of each school 
administrative unit may vote to raise and appropriate an amount up to the municipality's 
or district's annual payments for non-state-funded debt service. 
An article in substantially the following form must be used. 
"Article .... : To see what sum the (municipality or district) will raise and appropriate 
from local funds for the annual payments on debt service for non-state-funded school 
construction projects previously approved by voters or other legislative body. 
(Recommend $ ........... )" 
Page I - 123LR2298(OI)-1 
I 
3. Additional local spending article. A school administrative unit may raise and 
appropriate local funds in excess of those raised and appropriated under subsections 1 and 
if approved in a separate article in substantially the following form. 
"Article ..... : To see what sum the (municipality or district) will raise and appropriate 
from local funds in excess of essential programs and services costs and non-state-
funded debt costs. (Recommend $ ......... )" 
The department shall develop guidelines for comparing essential programs and services 
and actual spending and distribute these guidelines to municipalities and school 
administrative units annually. 
4. In excess of 5%. If the school administrative unit intends to raise and appropriate 
II 
an additional local amount in excess of 5% of essential programs and services costs, as 
defined in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act, the article under subsection 
must be approved by written ballot and include a statement in substantially the 
following form. 
"Explanation: This article seeks to obtain additional local funds in order to fund the 
following cost centers within the school budget at levels higher than provided in the 
essential programs and services school funding model: 
I. System administration (Superintendent's office) 
EPS - $ ............... .. 
Proposed budget $ ............... .. 
2. School administration 
EPS - $ ................ . 
Proposed budget $ ............... .. 
3. Instruction 
EPS - $ ................ . 
Proposed budget $ ................ . 
4. Special education 
EPS - $ ................ . 
Proposed budget $ ............... .. 
5. Transportation 
EPS - $ ............... .. 
Proposed budget $ ............... .. 
6. Cocurricular and extracurricular activities 
EPS - $ ................ . 
Proposed budget $ ................ . 
7. Facilities operations 
I 
EPS - $ ................ . 
Proposed budget $ ................ . 
8. Other (specify) 
EPS - $ ................ . 
Proposed budget $ ................ . 
All categories combined 
EPS - $ ................ . 
Proposed budget $ ................ . 
5. Total budget article. A school administrative unit shall include a summary 
article indicating the total annual budget for funding public education from kindergarten 
to grade 12 in the school administrative unit. including the school administrative unit's 
contribution to essential programs and services costs, non-state-funded school 
construction projects, additional local funds, unexpended balances, tuition receipts, state 
subsidy and other receipts. The amount recommended must be the gross budget of the 
school system. This article does not provide money unless the other articles are approved. 
An article in substantially the following form must be used. 
"Article ..... : To see what sum the (municipality or district) will authorize the school 
committee to expend for the fiscal year beginning (July 1, .... ) and ending (June 30, 
.... ) for all purposes. (Recommend $ .......... )" 
6. Municipal assessment article. In a school administrative unit that encompasses 
more than one municipality, the school administrative unit must allocate the local 
assessment among those municipalities encompassed by the unit. 
An article in 
substantially the following form must be used when allocating the local share across 
participating municipalities. 
"Article ..... : To accept state funding for schools in (district), and to see what sum the 
unit will assess as each participating municipality's contribution to the total cost of 
funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12. (Recommend amount set 
forth below): 
Total school budget: ($amount) 
State contribution and other available funds: ($amount) 
Net local assessment: ($amount) 
Assessment to municipality A: ($amount) 
Assessment to municipality B: ($amount) 
Assessment to municipality C: ($amount) 
Total local assessment: ($sum of A, B and C)" 
7. Vote. Actions taken pursuant to subsections 1 to 6 must be taken by a recorded 
vote. 
8. Administrative costs for units with no pupils. If a school administrative unit is 
required to pay administrative costs and has no allocation of state or local funds, that unit 
may raise and expend funds for administrative costs. 
SUMMARY 
This bill simplifies the articles that must be submitted to the voters of a school 
administrative unit to authorize the raising and appropriation of funds. It also makes 
more transparent the categories of spending in which any municipality or district may 
exceed essential programs and services costs.