Sec. 8. 30-A MRSA §726, as amended by PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is further amended to read:

§726. Budget amendments

The approved budget shall govern governs the expenditures of the county during the fiscal year. No expenses may be incurred in excess of those shown in the approved budget, but the county commissioners may transfer funds as provided in section 922, and the budget may be from time to time revised by the preparation and submission of a proposed amended budget by the county commissioners to the budget committee. The budget committee shall within 15 calendar days approve, disapprove or amend this revised budget. If the proposed revised budget is approved or amended, the budget committee within this same time period shall forward the revised budget to the Legislature for final approval. The Legislature has 15 calendar days to approve or disapprove the revised budget. If the Legislature is not in session or does not approve the revised budget within this time, it is disapproved. A report of approval of a revised budget shall must be transmitted to the State Auditor within 15 days of the Legislature's approval of a revised budget.

SUMMARY

This bill amends the budget approval process for Androscoggin County by removing the requirement that the budget be submitted to the Legislature for final approval. Instead, the existing budget committee is empowered to adopt the budget, which it must submit to the county commissioners. The county commissioners may alter the budget committee's budget only by a unanimous vote; and, if the commissioners do so, the budget committee may reject the county commissioners' change by a 2/3 vote. The bill also increases the number of members on the committee from 9 to 11 members. The 2 additional members must be Androscoggin County legislative delegation members.