Chapter 389
2011 -- H 6052 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/13/11
A N A C T
RELATING TO
TOWNS AND CITIES - BUDGET COMMISSIONS
Introduced By: Representatives Silva, McLaughlin, Blazejewski, and Edwards
Date Introduced: April 12, 2011
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 45-9-7 of the General Laws in Chapter
45-9 entitled "Budget
Commissions" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
45-9-7. Appointment of receiver. --
If the budget commission established by section 45-
9-5 concludes that its
powers are insufficient to restore fiscal stability to the city or town, it
shall
so notify the director of revenue, and shall forward to
the director of revenue a statement of the
reasons why it has been unable to restore fiscal stability to
the city or town. Upon receipt of such
statement, the director of revenue shall terminate the
existence of the budget commission,
notwithstanding section 45-9-5, and the director of revenue shall
appoint a receiver for the city or
town for a period as the director of revenue may
determine. The director of revenue may, at any
time, and without cause, remove the receiver and appoint a
successor, or terminate the
receivership.
(b) The receiver shall
have the following powers:
(1) All powers of the
fiscal overseer and budget commission under sections 45-9-2 and
45-9-6. Such powers shall
remain through the period of any receivership;
(2) The power to exercise
any function or power of any municipal officer or employee,
board, authority or commission, whether elected or
otherwise relating to or impacting the fiscal
stability of the city or town including, without limitation,
school and zoning matters; and
(3) The power to file a
petition in the name of the city or town under Chapter 9 of Title
11 of the United States Code, and to
act on the city's or town's behalf in any such proceeding.
(c) Upon the appointment
of a receiver, the receiver shall have the right to exercise the
powers of the elected officials under the general laws,
special laws and the city or town charter
and ordinances relating to or impacting the fiscal
stability of the city or town including, without
limitation, school and zoning matters; provided, further, that
the powers of the receiver shall be
superior to and supersede the powers of the elected officials
of the city or town shall continue to
be elected in accordance with the city or town charter,
and shall serve in an advisory capacity to
the receiver. The receiver shall allow the city's or
town's elected officials to serve their
constituents by providing advice to the receiver on the matters
relating to the operation of the city
or town. In the event a conflict arises between the
chief elected official or city or town council
and the receiver, the receiver's decision shall prevail. The director of revenue shall determine the
salary of the receiver, which salary shall be payable by the
city or town.
SECTION 2. Section 45-54-5 of the General Laws in Chapter
45-54 entitled "Municipal
Detention Facility
Corporations" is hereby amended to read as follows:
45-54-5.
Board of directors -- Tenure -- Quorums. -- (a)
When the council of a city or
town first adopts a resolution as provided for in section
45-54-1, the elected chief executive
officer, in cities and towns having a popularly elected chief
executive officer, shall appoint five
(5) persons, at
least three (3) of whom shall be resident electors of the city or town as
directors of
the corporation. These appointments are subject to
approval by the city or town council. In cities
and towns where there is no popularly elected chief
executive officer, the city or town council
shall appoint five (5) persons, at least three (3) of
whom shall be resident electors of the city or
town as directors of the corporation.
(b) The directors who
are first appointed are designated to serve for terms as follows:
two (2) directors have initial terms of two (2) years;
and three (3) directors have initial terms of
three (3) years, respectively, from the date of their
appointment. Thereafter, directors shall be
appointed for a term of five (5) years, except that all vacancies
shall be filled for the unexpired
term by the chief executive officer of the city or town,
if any, or the city or town council.
(c) Each director whose
term of office expires shall continue to hold office until his or
her successor is appointed and has qualified. Each
director before entering upon his or her other
duties will take an oath to support the constitution and
laws of the state and the constitution of the
directors are subject to removal for cause by the elected chief
executive officer, in cities and
towns having a popularly elected chief executive officer,
or by the town council, where there is
no popularly elected chief executive officer. The
directors receive no compensation for the
performance of their duties, but are reimbursed for their
reasonable expenses incurred in carrying
out their duties under this chapter.
(d) No director or
employee of the corporation shall acquire any direct interest in any
project or in any property included or planned to be included
in any project, nor shall he or she
have any interest, direct or indirect, in any proposed
contract for materials or services to be
furnished in connection with any project. If any director or
employee of the corporation owns or
controls an interest, direct or indirect, in any property
included or planned to be included in any
project, he or she shall immediately disclose the interest,
in writing, to the corporation and that
disclosure shall be entered upon the minutes of the corporation.
Failure to disclose the interest
constitutes misconduct in office.
(e) No elected official
of any city or town or director of the corporation shall become an
employee of the corporation for at least two (2) years after
leaving public office or ceasing to be a
director of the corporation, as applicable.
(f) The corporation
shall elect one of its directors as chairperson and another as vice-
chairperson and shall also elect a secretary and a treasurer.
Three (3) directors of the corporation
constitutes a quorum and the vote of three (3) members is
necessary for any action taken by the
corporation. No vacancy in the board of directors of the
corporation shall impair the right of the
quorum to exercise all the rights and perform all the duties
of the corporation.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02362/SUB A/2
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