Charter provision that permits governing body and budget committee recommendations on warrant articles does not violate RSA 49-B

Forsberg v. Kearsarge Regional School District
Forsberg v. Kearsarge Regional School District
No. 2009-360
Friday, May 7, 2010

The Kearsarge Regional School District operates pursuant to a charter adopted in 1997. In 2006, the petitioner sought to amend the charter through a citizen petition. The text of the proposed warrant article was placed on the official ballot of the 2007 annual meeting, together with notations that both the school board and the official budget committee of the district did not recommend passage of the article. Following defeat of the measure at the polls, the proponents sued, claiming that it was unlawful for the school board and the budget committee to have added recommendations following the text of the warrant article. The trial court dismissed their petition.

On appeal to the Supreme Court, the petitioner argued that this charter provision was invalid, in that it was not expressly authorized by the language of RSA Chapter 49-B. However, the Court held that charter provisions are valid so long as they are not preempted by other statutes and not inconsistent with the purpose and intent of the authorizing statute, even if they contain language which has not been expressly authorized by the state legislature in the text of the statute.

Here, the purpose and intent of the statute was to regulate how a municipality could act to change the terms of the charter or the form of its government. The presence or absence of a recommendation on an official ballot from either the governing body or the budget committee did not serve to change the charter or form of government. Since the legislative decision remained with the people through their vote, the practice was consistent with the statute and was sustained.