197:3 Raising Money at Special Meeting. –
I. (a) No school district at any special meeting shall raise or appropriate money nor reduce or rescind any appropriation made at a previous meeting, unless the vote thereon is by ballot, nor unless the ballots cast at such meeting shall be equal in number to at least 1/2 of the number of voters of such district entitled to vote at the regular meeting next preceding such special meeting; and, if a checklist was used at the last preceding regular meeting, the same shall be used to ascertain the number of legal voters in said district; and such checklist, corrected according to law, may be used at such special meeting upon request of 10 legal voters of the district. In case an emergency arises requiring an immediate expenditure of money, the school board may petition the superior court for permission to hold a special district meeting, which, if granted, shall give said district meeting the same authority as an annual district meeting.
(b) "Emergency" for the purposes of this section shall mean a sudden or unexpected situation or occurrence, or combination of occurrences, of a serious and urgent nature, that demands prompt or immediate action, including an immediate expenditure of money. This definition, however, does not establish a requirement that an emergency involves a crisis in every set of circumstances.
(c) To verify that an emergency exists, a petitioner shall present, and the court shall consider, a number of factors including:
(1) The severity of the harm to be avoided.
(2) The urgency of the petitioner's need.
(3) Whether the claimed emergency was foreseeable or avoidable.
(4) Whether the appropriation could have been made at the annual meeting.
(5) Whether there are alternative remedies not requiring an appropriation.
(d) The court shall not allow a special meeting if the emergency involves a collective bargaining agreement that was voted down at the regular meeting, including a collective bargaining agreement modified after the regular meeting.
II. Ten days prior to petitioning the superior court, the school board shall notify, by certified mail, the commissioner of the department of revenue administration that an emergency exists by providing the commissioner with a copy of the explanation of the emergency, the warrant article or articles and the petition to be submitted to the superior court. The petition to the superior court shall include a certification that the commissioner of the department of revenue administration has been notified pursuant to this paragraph.
III. In the event that the legislative body at an annual meeting amends or rejects the cost items or fact finder's reports as submitted pursuant to RSA 273-A, notwithstanding paragraphs I and II, the school board may call one special meeting for the sole purpose of addressing all negotiated cost items without petitioning the superior court for authorization. Such special meeting may be authorized only by a contingent warrant article inserted on the warrant or official ballot either by petition or by the governing body. The wording of the question shall be as follows: "Shall (the local political subdivision), if article __________ is defeated, authorize the governing body to call one special meeting, at its option, to address article __________ cost items only?" The refusal of the legislative body to authorize a special meeting as provided in this paragraph shall not affect any other provision of law. Any special meeting held under this paragraph shall be combined with the revised operating budget meeting under RSA 40:13, XI, if any, and shall not be counted toward the number of special meetings which may be held in a given calendar or fiscal year.
IV. When the school board votes to petition the superior court for permission to hold a special school district meeting, the school board shall post notice of such vote within 24 hours after taking the vote and a minimum of 10 days prior to filing the petition with the court. The school board shall post notice of the court date for an evidentiary hearing on the petition within 24 hours after receiving notice of the court date from the court. Such notices shall be posted at the office of the school board and at 2 or more other conspicuous places in the school district, and in the next available edition of one or more local newspapers with a wide circulation in the school district. If the district is a multi-town school district, the notices shall be posted at the office of the school board and at 2 or more other conspicuous places in each town of the multi-town school district, and in the next available edition of one or more newspapers with a wide circulation in all towns of the multi-town school district.
V. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no special meeting to raise and appropriate money, or to reduce or rescind any appropriation made at a previous meeting, may be held unless the vote is taken on or before December 31 of any budget cycle. However, the district may bring such items as could not be addressed prior to December 31 before the voters at the next annual school district meeting. Such supplemental appropriations, together with appropriations raised under RSA 197:1, shall be assessed against property as of April 1.