5. Adoption of budget. After the public hearing or hearings held under subsection 4 are completed, the budget committee may further increase, decrease, alter and revise the proposed itemized budgets, subject to the conditions and restrictions imposed in subsection 3 shall adopt a final budget and transmit that budget to the county commissioners. The county commissioners may not revise the budget adopted by the budget committee, except by unanimous vote of the commissioners elected.__ If the adopted budget is changed by the county commissioners, the budget 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 county commissioners or the budget committee. The proposed itemized budget and the capital improvement program submitted under subsection 1 must be finally adopted by a majority vote of the budget committee at a duly called meeting held before the end of the county's fiscal year.

Sec. 5. 30-A MRSA §725, sub-§6, as amended by PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is repealed.

Sec. 6. 30-A MRSA §725, sub-§7, as amended by PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is further amended to read:

7. Assessment of taxes. The budget as approved by the Legislature under this article is the final authorization for the assessment of county taxes. The budget shall must be sent to the county commissioners and the county tax authorized shall be apportioned and collected in accordance with section 706.

Sec. 7. 30-A MRSA §725, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 573, §2, is amended to read:

9. Surplus funds. In developing the proposed itemized budget under this section, the budget committee and the county commissioners shall use 10% of any unencumbered surplus funds in excess of estimates from the previous fiscal year as reported in the audited financial report for that year to reduce the tax levy for the next year. The remaining unencumbered surplus funds may only be allocated for the following purposes:

A. To further reduce the tax levy;

B. To establish a capital reserve account under section 921 to fund items in the capital improvement program approved under subsection 5;

C. To restore the contingent account as provided in section 922, subsection 2; or