|
services and collect those costs prior to providing the services. |
| The executive director shall bill or reimburse the parties, as |
| appropriate, for any difference between the estimated costs that |
| were collected and the actual costs of providing the services. |
| Once one party has paid its share of the estimated cost of |
| providing the service, the matter is scheduled for hearing. A |
| party who has not paid an invoice for the estimated or actual cost |
| of providing services within 60 days of the date the invoice was |
| issued is, in the absence of good cause shown, liable for the |
| amount of the invoice together with a penalty in the amount of 25% |
| of the amount of the invoice. Any penalty amount collected |
| pursuant to this provision remains in the special fund administered |
| by the Maine Labor Relations Board and that fund does not lapse. |
| The executive director is authorized to collect any sums due and |
| payable pursuant to this provision through civil action. In such |
| an action, the court shall allow litigation costs, including court |
| costs and reasonable attorney's fees, to be deposited in the |
| General Fund if the executive director is the prevailing party in |
| the action. The executive director shall, annually, on or before |
| July 1st, make a report of the activities of the State Board of |
| Arbitration and Conciliation to the Governor. The board shall from |
| time to time adopt rules of procedure as it determines necessary, |
| including rules of procedure for proceedings under chapter 18. |
| Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules |
| as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. |
