Amendments to cost sharing formulas for school administrative districts

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE The following document is provided by the LAW AND LEGISLATIVE DIGITAL LIBRARY at the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library http://legislature.maine.gov/lawlib Reproduced from scanned originals with text recognition applied (searchable text may contain some errors and/or omissions) RICHARD S. CoHE!-i ATTORNEY GENERAL STEPHE:S L. DIAMOND JOHS S. GLEASON JOH:-. M. R. PATERSON ROBERT J. STOLT STATE OF MAINE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GE:--.ERAL AUGUSTA, MAINE 04333 H. Sawin Millett, Jr. Commissioner Dept. Educational & Cultural Svcs. State House Augusta, ~iai...~e 04333 June 12, 1979 DEPUTY ATTORNEYS GENERAL Re: Amendments to Cost Sharing Formulas for School Administrative Districts Dear Commissioner Millett: This is in response to your oral request regarding what procedure a School Administrative District shall follow in order to cha.I"'.ge its cost sharing formula and whether a district's Board of Directors has authority to initiate a change. The procedure which a School Administrative District sr.all follow "for changing the method of sharing costs among their member municipalities" is set forth in 20 Iil.R.S.A. §305, 3rd para.graph: 1'\·/hen requested by 10% of the number of voters voting for the gubernatorial candidates at the last state-wide election in the municipalities comprising the district, the board of school directors of the School Ad:ntinistrative District sr.all give at least 15 days notice to each municipality comprising the School AdJn:i.r,istrative District of a meeting to determine the necessity of reconsidering the method of sharing costs. Each IP.ember rmmicipality of the district 3r.all be represented at the meeti.ri..g to determine the necessity of reconsidering the w.ethod of sharing costs by its municipal officers, school director or directors, and two representatives from each rrn.micipality c~csen at large by its rmmicipal officers. Any cr.:a.YJ.ge in the method of sharing costs must first be approved by a vote of 2/3 of those present and votir..g, and shall beccme effective i:-:hen approved by a rrzjority vote of the district at a meeting called ar.d held for this purpose in accordance with section 225." H. Sawin Millett, Jr. · June 12, 1979 Page 2 The language in the second para.graph of section 305 would, at first glance, appear to authorize another procedure for effecting a change in a district's cost sharing formula. It states that "alternate methods of sharing costs among the member municipalities of a School Administrative District may be used if certified in accordance with the following procedures." However, the procedures set forth in the second paragraph authorize the "municipal officers and school committee members of the prcposed School Administrative District" to 11petition the State Board of Education on forms prepared by the Board for permission to share costs among the member runicipalities of the proposed district using either alternate method A or alternate method B of this section." (Emphasis supplied). Therefore, the procedures identified in the second paragraph of section 305 are not available to an existing f strict, but are available only at the time of the formation of a new district. I trust the above is dispositive of the questions you have raised in this matter. WGB:lm Respectfully yours, ),h,_~ C: a_f __ Waldemar G. Buschnann Assistant Attorney General 1Without specific statutory authorization, the Board of Directors would not have the authority to initiate a change to the district's cost sharing formula in the manner set forth in the second paragraph of 20 M.R.S.A. §305. See City of Auburn v. Paul, 110 ~le. 192, 202 (1912) and City of Auburn v. Paul, 113 Me. 207, 20~ (1915) regarding the limitations on a subordinate governing body to exercise powers not specifically given to it by a statute or by the Constitution.