County replays by the rules

Following the advice of legal counsel, the Belknap County Convention this week retraced the wayward steps it took in adopting the 2008 county budget and authorizing borrowings in anticipation of property tax collections at the end of the year, this time following the course prescribed by state law.

As a result, the convention adopted the $26.1-million budget presented by the County Commission in November, which is about $448,000 less than the $26.6-million required to meet projected obligations. The Commission's budget recommendation was revised upward during the months that followed its initial submission.

Philip "Bud" Daigneault, chairman of the three-member Commission, said yesterday that the commissioners will be soon be requesting a supplemental appropriation to make up the shortfall.

The budget process was challenged on procedural grounds by conservative activists Doug Lambert of Gilford and Tom Tardif of Laconia. The pair pointed out that state law stipulates that the convention, consisting of the 18 members of the House of Representatives elected from the county, must hold a public hearing on the budget not less than 10 days or more than 20 days after the commissioners mail their budget proposal to members of the Convention. The commissioners mailed the 2008 budget on November 26 and presented it to a meeting of the Convention on December 10.

Lambert and Tardif explained that when the commissioners presented their budget to the convention on December 10, the meeting was advertised as a public hearing, but Representative Stephen Nedeau, who chairs the convention, failed to open a public hearing or solicit public comment. The convention met again on February 19 and, again without holding a public hearing, prepared to adopt the budget as amended by the convention. Lambert and Tardif questioned the process, prompting the to recess and consult with County Attorney Jim Carroll.

When the convention reconvened, Nedeau announced that it would not vote on the budget, but instead invite written public comment until February 29 and hold a public hearing on March 4.

On March 4, 100 days after the commission posted its proposed budget and 80 days after the window for the public hearing closed, the convention adopted the 2008 budget at the $26.6-million level . State law (RSA 24:14, II) prescribes that "if the county convention does not adopt its annual budget by the time specified, the budget, as recommended by the commissioners shall take effect."

Lambert and Tardif advised attorney David Barnes of Manchester, who serves as bond counsel to the county, that the Convention failed to follow the process set forth by the law. "Our attorney suggested that the budget adopted on March 4 was not proper," Daigneault said, "and in that case, the budget reverts to the commissioner's proposal. We've corrected the situation," he continued, "but we will require a supplemental appropriation."

Lambert said that "we demonstrated that the convention was not following the process, but we also discovered that the process defined by the law is itself flawed. To require that a public hearing be held on the day the commissioners present their budget or very soon afterwards," he explained, "seems very premature. It would make more sense to hold the public haring at a point in the process when the public input would be better informed and more effective, like it is done in cities and towns."

Lambert and Tardif also challenged the March 4 decision of the Convention to authorize the county treasurer, Michael Muzzey, to borrow up to $14,271,909 — the portion of the approved budget not covered by non-property tax revenues. They contended that the treasurer failed to testify in support of the request to borrow before the executive committee of the Convention and the executive committee failed to authorize the borrowings as the law (RSA 29:8) requires.

Again acting on advice from Barnes, the Convention reauthorized the borrowings in accordance with the law, but affirmed that the Commission does not believe Lambert and Tardif's objections have merit.