New Hampshire HB 1066: relative to warrant articles authorizing lease agreements.

Bill Text

HB 1066-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

12Mar2026... 0923h

2026 SESSION

 26-2314

 07/05

HOUSE BILL 1066-FN

AN ACT relative to warrant articles authorizing lease agreements.

SPONSORS: Rep. Pauer, Hills. 36; Rep. Berry, Hills. 44; Rep. Bryer, Rock. 1; Rep. Crawford, Carr. 3; Rep. Erf, Hills. 28; Rep. Harvey-Bolia, Belk. 3; Rep. Kofalt, Hills. 32; Rep. R. Brown, Carr. 8; Rep. Wherry, Hills. 13; Rep. Weyler, Rock. 14; Sen. Gannon, Dist 23

COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government

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ANALYSIS

 This bill modifies rules and procedures regarding warrant articles that authorize lease agreements.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

 Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

 Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

12Mar2026... 0923h 26-2314

 07/05

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six

AN ACT relative to warrant articles authorizing lease agreements.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 1 New Paragraph; Municipal Budget Law; Definition of Lease. Amend RSA 32:3 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph: 

 IV-a. "Lease" includes a lease agreement, lease-purchase agreement, sale and lease back agreement, installment sale, or other similar agreement to acquire use or ownership of real property, fixtures, equipment, or any combination of these as is from time to time required by the municipality under RSA 33:7-e or RSA 33:7-f, as applicable. 

 2 Towns, Cities, Village Districts, and Unincorporated Places; Municipal Budget Law; Definitions. Amend RSA 32:3, VI(b)to read as follows:

 (b) Calls for an appropriation of an amount to be raised for a lease under RSA 33:7-e or RSA 33:7-f, or by the issuance of bonds or notes pursuant to RSA 33; or

 3 Towns, Cities, Village Districts, and Unincorporated Places; Municipal Budget Law; Budget Preparation. Amend RSA 32:5, I to read as follows:

 I. The governing body, or the budget committee if there is one, shall hold at least one public hearing on each budget, not later than 25 days before each annual or special meeting, public notice of which shall be given at least 7 days in advance, and after the conclusion of public testimony shall finalize the budget to be submitted to the legislative body. If a town or district uses sub-accounts to budget or track financial data it shall make that data available for public inspection at the public hearing. One or more supplemental public hearings may be held at any time before the annual or special meeting, subject to the 7-day notice requirement. If the first hearing or any supplemental hearing is recessed to a later date or time, additional notice shall not be required for a supplemental session if the date, time, and place of the supplemental session are made known at the original hearing. Public hearings on bonds and notes in excess of $100,000 shall be held in accordance with RSA 33:8-a, I, and public hearings on leases in excess of $500,000 shall be held in accordance to the procedure in RSA 33:7-f, II. Days shall be counted in accordance with RSA 21:35.

 4 New Paragraph; Towns, Cities, Village Districts, and Unincorporated Places; Municipal Budget Law; Lapse of Appropriations. Amend RSA 32:7 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:

 III-a. The amount to be raised, in whole or in part, through a lease pursuant to RSA 33:7-f, shall not lapse until the fulfillment of the purpose or completion of the project being financed by the lease, except that energy performance contracts under RSA 21-I:19-d shall lapse if the funding authority for municipality fails to appropriate sufficient funds pursuant to RSA 21-I:19-d, II(e); or 

 5 New Paragraph; Towns, Cities, Village Districts, and Unincorporated Places; Municipal Finance Act; Definitions. Amend RSA 33:1 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph:

 V. "Lease" shall have the same meaning as set forth in RSA 32:3, IV-a.

 6 Towns, Cities, Village Districts, and Unincorporated Places; Municipal Finance Act; Repayment of Loans. Amend RSA 33:2 to read as follows:

 33:2 Repayment of Loans. Municipalities and counties shall not issue any bonds or notes, nor enter into any leases, that are payable on demand. They shall provide for the payment of all loans issued under authority of this chapter except notes issued under authority of RSA 33:7, in annual payments which shall be so arranged that the amount of the annual payment of principal and interest in any year on account of any loan shall not be less than the amount of principal and interest payable in any subsequent year by more than 2 percent of the principal of the en