An Act Regarding the Composition of the Budget Advisory Committee and the Finality of the Budget in the Franklin County Budget Process
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1350
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: LANDRY, HALL, SOBOLESKI
Amends: 30-A MRSA §873, 30-A MRSA §874

Legislative Document
No. 1350
H.P. 864
House of Representatives, March 28, 2023
An Act Regarding the Composition of the Budget Advisory 
Committee and the Finality of the Budget in the Franklin County 
Budget Process
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative LANDRY of Farmington.
Cosponsored by Representatives: HALL of Wilton, SOBOLESKI of Phillips.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §873, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 495, is amended to 
read:
1.  Municipal officers.  Municipal officers within each commissioner district shall 
caucus and shall elect municipal officers from that district to fill vacancies as they arise, 
for terms as provided in paragraph A B.
A.  Members shall serve for 3-year terms, except that initially each district caucus shall 
select one member for a one-year term, one member for a 2-year term and one member 
for a 3-year term.  There must be 3 members from each commissioner district.  If a 
committee member ceases to be a municipal officer during the term of membership, 
the committee member shall resign the membership and the next district caucus shall 
elect a qualified municipal officer to fill the membership for the remainder of the 
unexpired term.
B.  Each commissioner district has 2 permanent members. Members serve for 3-year 
terms. There is a rotating member who serves a one-year term, selected in 2025 by 
commissioner district one, selected in 2026 by commissioner district 2, selected in 
2027 by commissioner district 3, selected in 2028 by commissioner district 4, selected 
in 2029 by commissioner district 5 and selected in 2030 and succeeding years in the 
same order as the first 5 years under this paragraph.  If a committee member ceases to 
be a municipal officer during the term of membership, the committee member shall 
resign the membership and the next district caucus shall elect a qualified municipal 
officer to fill the membership for the remainder of the unexpired term.
Sec. 2.  30-A MRSA §874, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 495, is amended to 
read:
4.  Finality of budget.  After the public hearing is completed, the advisory committee 
shall adopt a final budget and transmit that budget to the county commissioners.  The 
county commissioners may not further increase, decrease, alter or revise the budget adopted 
by the advisory committee, except by unanimous a 3/5 vote of the entire membership of 
the county commissioners.  If the adopted budget is changed by the county commissioners, 
the advisory committee may reject that change by a 2/3 vote of its membership.  Those 
actions are final and are not subject to further action by either the county commissioners or 
the advisory committee.
Sec. 3.  Franklin County Budget Advisory Committee initial terms.  
Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, section 873, subsection 1, 
paragraph B, members of the Franklin County Budget Advisory Committee serve for 3-
year terms, except initially commissioner districts one and 2 shall select one member for a 
one-year term and one member for a 2-year term, commissioner districts 3 and 4 shall select 
one member for a 2-year term and one member for a 3-year term and commissioner district 
shall select one member for a one-year term and one member for a 3-year term.
Sec. 4.  Effective date. This Act takes effect November 5, 2024.
SUMMARY
On November 5, 2024, current law changes the number of commissioner districts in 
Franklin County from 3 districts to 5 districts. This bill changes the composition of the 
Franklin County Budget Advisory Committee to reflect the change in commissioner 
districts by changing the composition of the committee from 3 to 5 districts and from 3 
members for each district serving 3-year terms to 2 permanent members for each district 
serving 3-year terms and one rotating member serving a one-year term, with each district 
selecting the rotating member for one year of the 5-year period.  The bill also changes the 
vote for the final adoption of the Franklin County budget from a unanimous vote to a 3/5 
vote of the entire membership of the county commissioners. The legislation takes effect 
November 5, 2024.