Introduced By: Representatives Rabideau, Lowe and Carroll
Date Introduced : April 9, 1998
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 2.06, 3.06, 10.04, 11.01 and 11.05 of the Town Charter of the Town of Burrillville, as approved by the electorate on November 8, 1988 and ratified by the general assembly on July 7, 1989 as chapter 256 of the public laws of 1989, are hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 2.06 Moderators and Clerks. At least ten (10) days prior to any election, the board of canvassers and registration shall appoint for each polling place within the town where in an election is to be held a moderator and clerk, one of whom shall be a democrat and the other of whom shall be a republican. The appointment shall be made from a list of not less than ten (10) qualified party voters presented to the board by the town committee of the democratic and republican parties, respectively. The democratic officials to be selected from the democratic list, and the republican officials from the republican list. In case any committee shall fail to submit a list within the required time, the board shall select officials from the party voters of the same political party as the committee failing to submit the list.
Section 3.06 Filling Vacancy. A vacancy on the town council shall be filled until the next general election by the qualified candidate for council with the next highest vote total in the last general election. The voters would then elect a candidate (refer to referendum). If no qualified candidate is available, the council shall appoint a qualified elector to fill the vacancy. The replacement candidate shall be sworn into office within thirty (30) days following the occurrence of the vacancy. The voters will then elect a candidate to fill any unexpired term.
Section 10.04 Budget Schedule and Procedures. (A) All estimates for capital and operating expenditures by the departments, commissions, offices and agencies of the town government for the ensuing fiscal year shall be submitted to the budget board no later than the first Monday in February.
(B) The budget board shall submit its recommendations to the manager no later than the first Monday in April.
(C) The manager shall review the recommendations of the budget board and shall make such changes in the various expenditure requests as he or she may think fit, provided however, that the manager shall not have the authority to change any item in the school department expenditure request except the overall total amount, and submit the budget to the council no later than the first Monday in May. Said budget will include separate listings and totals of the capital and operating appropriations requested, respectively; comparisons with expenditures for the current fiscal year; a recommended tax rate for the town to fund the town share of the total appropriations; a detailed listing of funds anticipated from the state and federal government and other sources; together with such explanation of the budget and its several parts as the manager may provide.
(D) On the same day that the budget is submitted to the council, there shall be made available a quantity of copies thereof at the town hall to be furnished to interested citizens upon request.
(E) Upon receipt of the budget, the council shall make provision for no less than two (2) public hearings thereon, to be held on separate days, and to be concluded no later than the first Monday in June. Notice of said hearings shall be advertised on at least three (3) separate days in a newspaper or newspapers of general circulation in the town, the final such advertisement to appear no less than seven (7) days prior to the first hearing date. The council shall also cause to be published in a newspaper or newspapers of general circulation in the town a summary of major expenditures appearing in the budget with the recommended appropriations compared to current authorized expenditures, said publication to appear no less than seven (7) days prior to the first public hearing.
(F) The council may make any changes in the budget which it shall think proper, provided however that it shall not have the authority to change any item in the school department budget except the overall total amount, and provided further that the final budget when adopted shall show a balance between authorized appropriation and anticipated receipts. The council shall adopt its budget no later than June 15th.
(G) Item veto by Manager: If the council has increased the amount of any item or items, or has added any items or items not included in the budget as submitted by the manager, the town clerk shall forthwith deliver to the manager, a copy of the portion of the record setting forth such changes. If the manager disapproves of such change or changes, he or she shall within seventy two (72) hours of his receipt of the record of changes file with the town clerk a message expressing his or her disapproval and giving his reasons thereof. The council by affirmative vote of four (4) or more members may override the managers disapproval. If the manager's disapproval is not overridden, the change shall be eliminated.
(H) In the event that no budget shall have been adopted by the start of the fiscal year, the departments, commissions, offices and agencies of the town shall have the authority to continue making expenditures at the rates authorized in the budget of the previous fiscal year until such time as a new budget shall have been approved.
(I) Participation by voters: Any departmental budget, excluding funds appropriated to pay debt, in the formats adopted by the town council, may be subject to amendment by referendum of the electors of the town in the following manner:
(1) Commencement of Budget Amendment Proceedings; Petitioners; Committees; Affidavit.
Any five (5) qualified voters may commence a proceeding to amend the budget by filing with the town clerk an affidavit stating will constitute the petitioners' committee within ten (10) days of the final adoption of the budget by the council and be responsible for circulating the budget amendment petition and filing it in proper form, stating their names and addresses and specifying the address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent and setting out in full the proposed budget amendment or amendments.
(2) Petitions.
(a) Number of signatures. All papers of a petition must be signed by qualified town voters equal in number to at least fifteen percent (15%) of the total number of persons registered to vote at the last regular election.
(b) Form and content. All papers of a petition shall be uniform in size and style and shall be assembled as one (1) instrument for filing. Each signature shall be executed in ink or indelible pencil and shall be followed by the address of the person signing. Petitions shall contain or have attached thereto throughout their circulation the amendment or amendments setting forth the increases or decreases proposed to the budget as adopted by the town council.
(c) Affidavit of circulator. Each paper of a petition shall have attached to it when filed an affidavit executed by the person circulating stating the number of signatures thereon and affirming that he/she personally circulated the paper, that all the signatures were affixed in the presence of the circulator, and that he/she believes them to be genuine signatures of the persons whose names they purported to be.
(d) Time for filing budget amendment petitions. Budget amendment petitions must be filed with the town clerk within fourteen (14) days after the clerks issuance of the blank petition.
(3) Procedure after filing.
(a) Certification of petition. The town clerk shall forthwith refer the filed budget amendment petition to the board of canvassers which shall within ten (10) days prepare a certificate as to its sufficiency, specifying if it is sufficient and specifying if it is insufficient, the particulars wherein it is defective. The board of canvassers shall promptly send a copy of the certificate to the petitioners' committee by return mail. In reviewing the petition, the board shall accept every signature as valid if it can be identified to be the signature of the voter it purports to be; and provided, further, that variation of the voter's signature by the insertion or omission of identifying titles or by the substitution of initials for the first or middle names or both shall not by itself be grounds for the invalidation of such signature. Any voter who is unable to write may sign making his or her mark (X) on the petition in the presence of two (2) witnesses who shall subscribe their names on the paper as witnesses to the signing.
(b) Court review. A determination as to the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to court review.
(4) Submission to voters. The vote of the town on a budget amendment petition shall be held not later than thirty (30) days from the date that the board of canvassers certified the petition as sufficient.
(5) Continuation.
Upon the certification of any such petition for a referendum by the canvassing authority pursuant to subsection 10.04 (i) (2) and (3) of this article, if such petition calls for the reduction or elimination of an item or items in the budget as adopted, expenditures shall continue to be made at the same rate in accordance with subsection 10.04 (k) of this article until the referendum thereon has been held and the issue resolved; provided however, that in the case of a petition calling for a reduction in the total school department budget, the school department may continue to spend and/or obligate funds until the referendum is resolved so long as the rate of expenditure and/or obligation does not exceed that of the previous fiscal year during the same period of time.
Section 11.01 Number, Term, Constituency.
There shall be a school committee consisting of seven (7) members, each of whom shall be elected at large on a nonpartisan basis at the regular elections in even numbered years to serve for a term of four (4) years and until their successor is elected and qualified. However, in the election of 1998 four (4) members shall be elected for four (4) years. The candidates elected in 1996 shall complete their terms in 2000 three (3) candidates shall be elected for four (4) year terms.
Section 11.02 Commencement of Term.
The town clerk shall reorganize the school committee and administer the oath of office to newly elected officials. The terms of committeeperson shall begin at the first meeting of the committee to be held after the issuance of a certificate of election.
Section 11.06 Filling Vacancy.
A vacancy in the office of a school committeeperson shall be filled by the qualified candidate for school committee with the next highest vote total in the last general election. Said person shall serve only until the next general election. If no qualified candidate is available, the town council shall appoint a qualified elector to fill the vacancy until the next general election. At the next general election the voters shall elect a person to fill any unexpired term. The replacement candidate shall be sworn into office within thirty (30) days from the occurrence of the vacancy.
SECTION 2. In all respects in which the home rule charter of the town of Burrillville, approved and adopted by the electors of the town of Burrillville on November 8, 1988 and as amended by vote of the electors on the fifth day of November, 1996 may require further ratification, confirmation, validation or enactment by the general assembly, but in no other respects, the provisions of said home rule charter of the town of Burrillville are hereby ratified, confirmed, validated and enacted. It is the express intention of the general assembly, by the passage of this act, to give effect to, ratify, confirm, validate and enact those provisions of the home rule charter of the town of Burrillville which require ratification, confirmation, validation, or enactment and by the passage of this act the legislature does hereby ratify, confirm, validate and enact said provisions, but nothing in this act shall be construed to abrogate or impair the powers now or hereafter granted to towns by the home rule article and other applicable laws of the state of Rhode Island or those rights retained by said town of Burrillville in its home rule charter.
SECTION 3. If any provision of this act, or the application thereof to the town of Burrillville or to any person or circumstance is deemed invalid for any reason, the remainder of this act, or the application of such provision to said town or other persons or circumstances shall not be effected thereby, and to this end the provisions of this act are declared to be severable.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.
