Town of Lamoine
Ordinance regarding Town Meeting Donation
Requests
III. Validity and
Severability
V. Criteria for inclusion in the Town Warrant:
VIII. Presentation to Town
Meeting
The purpose
of this ordinance is to establish criteria by which organizations not under the
umbrella of the Town of Lamoine municipal government may solicit funds from the
Town Meeting of Lamoine.
A.
This
ordinance is created under home rule authority as provided for in Article VII-A
of the State of Maine Constitution and Title 30-A MRSA § 2001 et. Seq.
B.
This
ordinance shall be known as the “Town Meeting Donation Ordinance” of the Town
of Lamoine, adopted and effective by a referendum vote of a special town
meeting on November 7, 2000.
C.
The Board of
Selectmen shall administer this ordinance, with administration authority
delegated to the Budget Committee and the Administrative Assistant as outlined
below (Section VII).
Should any
section or provision of this ordinance be declared by any court to be invalid,
such decision shall not affect the validity of any other section or provision
of the ordinance.
A.
This
ordinance is applicable to all agencies seeking funds from the Town of Lamoine
that do not have a contractual relationship with the Town to provide goods or
services. Such organizations typically
submit a request to the Town through its board of Selectmen or Budget Committee
for inclusion in funding on the annual town meeting warrant.
B.
The
following organizations are exempt from this ordinance:
1.
Ellsworth
Public Library (providing library services)
2.
Downeast
Family YMCA (providing recreational services & facilities)
All
organizations must meet the following requirements. They must:
A.
Be
non-profit;
B.
Be
non-denominational (not affiliated with any religion)
C.
Be non
political (not affiliated with any political party)
D.
Be
non-governmental (not a unit of government but may receive grants from
government sources which often require a locally raised share).
E.
Be local
(provide services either within Lamoine or to Lamoine residents at nearby
communities.
F.
Operate at a
fiscal level where extensive local fund raising efforts would be prohibitively
expensive.
G.
Make
application to the Town Budget Committee between September 1 and November 30,
preceding the annual Town meeting using the application form available at the
Town Hall.
H.
Be in
compliance with applicable State law (MRSA 30-A § 5721-5728) which establishes
permissible town funding area.
A.
Organizations
shall be limited to a maximum of $600 in any town fiscal year.
B.
There is no
guarantee that any application will be funded or funded at the level
requested. The vote of town meeting
shall be final.
C.
Should the
total amounts requested exceed 5% of a mill (.05 mill) in the aggregate, the
Board of Selectmen shall make a recommendation to reduce the total amount to
this level by proportionately reducing all recommended amounts prior to voting
on the article.
A.
The town
administrative assistant shall determine whether the application is complete.
B.
The
Selectmen and/or Budget Committee shall determine if applicant meets the
criteria for support.
C.
Organizations
may appeal such a determination to the Board of Selectmen.
D.
The town
will notify applicants of acceptance or rejection for warrant inclusion in a
timely manner.
E.
Accepted
applications shall be forwarded to the Budget Committee for their
recommendation.
F.
The amount
requested will be shown in the Warrant followed by the Budget Committee’s
recommendation. The amounts in the
Warrant article may be considered, amended, and voted on as individual items
subject to the overall mill cap (Section VI).
Organizations are advised that having a contact person available to
answer questions at the Town Meeting is recommended but not mandatory.
G.
All
applications shall be available for inspection at the Town Hall and at the site
of the Town Meeting for public examination.
H.
The
application form shall require, at a minimum, the following information:
1.
Organization
full name and mailing address
2.
A contact
person with address and phone number
3.
General
purpose of organization
4.
Amount of
request
5.
Detailed
list of services provided to Lamoine in the last year.
6.
Other fund
raising activities
7.
Most recent
annual budget summary
A.
Failure to
be placed within the warrant article for the regular town meeting is
final. Any organization that did not
meet the criteria outlined in the previous sections and is excluded from the
approved warrant may not be included for funding from the floor of the town meeting.
The moderator of the town meeting may not deviate from this section.
B.
The warrant
article shall list all organizations that met the submission criteria, the
requested amount, and the recommended amount (if any). The moderator may, at either his discretion
or at the direction of the town meeting, separate the article into individual
votes by organization, or for the article as a whole.
After a
properly advertised and held public hearing and a public referendum vote taken
on the above ordinance having passed by a majority, we, the Lamoine Board of
Selectmen declare this Ordinance entitled the “Town Meeting Donation Ordinance”
to be in effect as of November 7, 2000.
Signed,
/s/Glenn Crawford, Chair
/s/Arthur Alley
/s/S. Josephine
Cooper
Selectmen
of the Town of Lamoine