Chapter 505
2013 -- S 0958 SUBSTITUTE A AS
AMENDED
Enacted 07/17/13
A N A C T
RELATING TO THE
CONSOLIDATION OF THE
Introduced By: Senators Pearson, and Picard
Date Introduced: May 22, 2013
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. The
Fire Districts are hereby merged
and consolidated into the Cumberland Fire District in the manner
and form as follows:
Section 1. Name And Jurisdiction
This
consolidated fire district shall be known as the Cumberland Fire District and
shall
have jurisdiction over the entire town of
the property, assets and personnel of the
Valley
Falls Fire Districts. The action
of consolidating the existing districts into one independent
district is done so in accordance with a referendum approved
by the qualified voters of the Town
of
2010 and
by a resolution adopted by the Cumberland Town Council on May 1, 2013.
Section 2. Electors
All
of the taxable inhabitants or qualified electors of the town of
(18) years
of age or older, shall be members of the distinct and independent entity known
as the
"Cumberland
Fire District."
Section 3. Governing Body
The
initial governing body of the consolidated Cumberland Fire District shall be a
Fire
Committee.
Beginning
no later than November of 2014, with the regularly scheduled general election,
seven (7) members of the Cumberland Fire Committee shall be
elected. Each of the five (5)
council districts shall elect one member, with two (2)
members being elected from the town at
large. It shall be a non-partisan election for a two (2)
year term. The winning candidates shall be
sworn in immediately after the election results are
certified. Any vacancy in the membership of
the Committee shall be filled by written ballot of a
majority of all the members of the Town
Council for the remainder
of the term of office, provided that the person selected to fill said
vacancy shall be a qualified elector from that district. A
vacancy in said membership of the
Committee shall occur if a
member dies, resigns from office, ceases to be a
resident and/or elector
of the district in which elected, or shall be absent for
four (4) consecutive regular meetings or six
(6) regular
meetings within a twelve (12) month period unless said absence(s) are excused
by a
majority vote of the whole Committee. Any and all elections,
provided for under this act, shall be
administered by the state board of elections and the town of
Section 4. Bylaws
The
Committee may adopt bylaws they deem necessary and expedient for carrying out
the provisions of this act, provided that they are not in
violation of or repugnant to the laws of this
state. The Committee may change any provision of the bylaws
at any regular or special meeting,
provided the proposed change has been noticed on the agenda of
the meeting.
Section 5. Authorization To Borrow
Funds
The
Cumberland Fire District is hereby authorized and empowered to borrow from time
to time such sums of money as may be necessary,
provided, however, that no bonded
indebtedness may be incurred pledging the credit of the District
in excess of one hundred
thousand dollars ($100,000) total in any one fiscal year
unless approved by a majority of the
electors voting thereon at a general or special election;
provided however, that this limit shall not
apply to borrowing in anticipation of tax receipts, or
receipts of federal or state grant monies, up
to the limits set therefor and
under the conditions specified in state law. At no time shall the
accumulated debt of the district exceed one half of its' annual
operating budget.
Section 6. Preservation Of Rights
Under Existing Labor Contracts
In
accordance with the provisions of Section 19.1 of Chapter 7, Title 28 of the
Rhode
Island General Laws, this
act of consolidation shall not impair the provisions of any existing labor
contracts for persons employed by any of the individual fire
districts. Notwithstanding this
consolidation, the labor contracts shall continue in full force and
effect until their termination
dates or until otherwise agreed by the parties or their
legal successors.
All
employees of the
Fire Districts who are so
employed by said districts as of the date of the enactment of this Act,
shall become employees of the Cumberland Fire District, and
shall retain all accumulated rank,
benefits and other rights of employment as existed with the
several districts without any action by
the Committee of the Cumberland Fire District. Nothing contained
herein shall prevent the
Committee
from reducing or eliminating non-contractual positions.
The
Collective Bargaining Agreements and all other binding commitments and
agreements entered into between the
Valley Falls Fire Districts
and the
2762), North Cumberland
(IAFF Local 2722) and
Associations, and any
retired members, in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, shall
remain in full force and effect and shall be treated from
that point forward as entered into
between the Cumberland Fire District and the
(IAFF Local 2762), North
Cumberland (IAFF Local 2722) and
Fire
Fighters Associations.
Section 7. Taxes And Tax Collector
The
Committee shall have power to impose taxes, and provide for assessing and
collecting the same, on the taxable inhabitants or property in
said district, as they shall deem
necessary for purchasing and procuring real estate, and
buildings, implements, apparatus and
other equipment, and for the payment of the current
expenses of said district, the payment of such
fire force as they may deem necessary for the protection
of the inhabitants of said district from
fires and for the preservation of the public peace therein
and also for the payment of any
indebtedness that has been or may be incurred by said district.
The Committee and the District
shall be subject to, and bound by, Section 44-5-2
("maximum levy") of the general laws as if they
were a city or town. Such taxes so ordered shall be
assessed by the assessors of said district on the
taxable inhabitants or property therein according to the last
valuation made by the assessor of the
town next previous to said assessment, adding, however,
any taxable property which may have
been omitted by said town assessors or which may have been
since acquired. In the assessing and
collecting of said taxes such proceedings shall be had by the
officers of said district as near as
may be, as are required to be had by the corresponding
officers of towns in this state in assessing
and collecting town taxes. The collector of taxes for the
town, by a mutual agreement between the
District and the Town
Council of the Town of
collection of the taxes for said district, including, but not
limited to, arranging for the fire tax bill
to appear on the same bill as the town tax bill. Any and
all funds collected by the Town on behalf
of the District shall be separately held and accounted
for and be held for the exclusive use of the
fire district. The collector of taxes for said district shall,
for the purpose of collecting taxes
assessed for said district, have the same powers and
authorities as are now by law conferred upon
collectors of taxes for the towns in this state. Said district
may provide for such deduction from
the tax assessed against any person if paid by an
appointed time or for such penalty by way of
percentage on the tax if not paid at an appointed time, as they
shall deem necessary to insure
punctual payments.
Section 8. Corporate Status
This
newly consolidated Cumberland Fire District shall have the right to enter into
contracts, to sue and to be sued, and to perform all the
functions of a corporation and shall have
all general corporate powers permitted by law in
accordance with section 7-1.1-4, as amended.
The Cumberland Fire
District shall possess all the rights, privileges, immunities, and franchises,
as well of a public or of a private nature, of the
Hill, and Valley Falls Fire
Districts; and all property, real, personal and mixed, and all debts due
on whatever account, including outstanding taxes, and
all other causes in action, and all and every
other interest of or belonging to or due to the
and Valley Falls Fire Districts (herein consolidated),
shall be taken and deemed to be transferred
to and vested in the Cumberland Fire Districts without
further act or deed; and the title to any real
estate, or any interest therein, vested in the
and Valley Falls Fire Districts shall not revert or be in
any way impaired by reason of this
consolidation.
Section 9. Management
The
management of the
Falls Fire Districts shall
be assumed by the Cumberland Fire Committee. The Committee shall
assume and have all the powers and duties of the Board of
Fire Commissioners for each of the
four (4) existing fire districts and to the extent that
this contravenes the existing public laws
relating to each of the four (4) existing fire districts, this
act shall control and supersede said prior
acts.
During
the first year, following the election of the Committee, in November, 2014, the
Committee shall manage and oversee
the four (4) existing budgets of each of the consolidated fire
districts, provided, however, that during the budget cycle for
the fiscal year beginning on July 1,
2015, the Committee shall
adopt one budget and one tax rate for the unified district. In all
subsequent fiscal years the Committee shall have the power to
adopt an annual operating budget.
The Committee shall make
provision for no less than two (2) public hearings thereon, to be held
on separate days, and to be concluded no later than the
first Monday in June. Notice of said
hearings shall be advertised on at least three (3) separate
days in a newspaper or newspapers of
general circulation in the Town, the final such advertisement
to appear no less than five (5) days
prior to the first hearing date. In adopting the final
budget, the Committee shall take two (2)
separate votes thereon, the second of which shall be taken no
less than forty-eight (48) hours
following the first. The Committee shall have completed action
on the final budget no later than
the second Monday in June. Any amendment proposed to the
annual budget following its
adoption shall specify the source of any funds sought to be
appropriated over and above the total
in the budget as originally adopted, and shall be considered
by the Committee under the following
procedure: A budget amendment showing the proposed changes in
the affected line items shall be
presented to the Committee and shall be referred to a
subsequent regular or special meeting for
action on its adoption. The Committee shall make provision
for two (2) public hearings thereon,
to be held on separate days. The second such hearing may
be on the date the Committee shall
consider adoption of the budget amendment. Notice of the said
hearings shall be advertised on at
least three (3) separate days in a newspaper or newspapers
of general circulation in the Town, the
final such advertisement to appear no less than ten (10)
days prior to the first hearing date. The
Committee shall also cause
to be published in a newspaper or newspapers of general circulation
in the Town a summary of major expenditure and revenue
categories appearing in the budget
amendment, compared to current authorized expenditures and
revenues, said publication is to
appear no less than ten (10) days prior to the first public
hearing.
Any
item or items in the District budget as finally adopted are subject to
referendum of
the electors of the District in the following manner:
(a)
Any elector of the District may circulate a petition for the holding of a
referendum on
such item or items of authorized expenditure provided for
in the budget as shall be specifically
identified in said petition together with the proposed amount of
increase or decrease thereof. Such
petition may call for the elimination of an item of
expenditure in its entirety, or the insertion of a
new item. Any such petition must be filed with the Town
Clerk no later than fourteen (14)
calendar days following the final adoption of the budget.
(b)
The Town Clerk shall transmit any such petition received by him or her to the
Canvassing Authority which
shall verify the signatures thereon forthwith. If the petition shall be
certified by the Canvassers to contain the valid signatures of
at least four percent (4%) of the
electors then registered in the Town, it shall be returned to
the Town Clerk.
(c)
Upon receipt of such certification from the Canvassing Authority, the Town
Clerk
shall set a date for the holding of a referendum by the
electors of the Town on the items specified
in the petition, such referendum to take place no later
than the third Tuesday following receipt of
such certification.
(d) Upon the certification of any such petition for a referendum
by the Canvassing
Authority pursuant to
subparagraph (b) of this Section, if such petition calls for the reduction or
elimination of an item or items in the budget as approved, no
expenditures shall be made from
said item or items, nor shall any of the funds therefrom be obligated, until the referendum thereon
has been held and the issue resolved; provided, however,
that the Committee may continue to
spend and/or obligate funds until the referendum is held
and the issue resolved, so long as the rate
of expenditure and/or obligation does not exceed that of
the previous year during the same period
of time.
Any
and all funds acquired by the Cumberland Fire District hereunder which are held
by
the
restricted by prior voter approval, testamentary bequest or
state law (including, but not limited to,
the
applied, spent, expended and administered by the Cumberland
Fire District in accordance with
the restrictions imposed thereon until the funds have
been exhausted.
Section 10. Existing Boards Of
Commissioners
The
existing boards of commissioners for the
Cumberland Hill, and Valley Falls Fire Districts as created by the
General Assembly shall be
dissolved, upon the swearing in of the Cumberland Fire
Committee, and all of their powers and
duties shall pass to the Cumberland Fire Committee not
inconsistent with this act. No labor
contracts shall be entered into or extended beyond June 30,
2015, until the swearing in of the
newly elected Fire Committee. The existing boards of
commissioners for the
that extends beyond June 30, 2015.
The
existing boards of commissioners for the
Cumberland Hill, and Valley Falls Fire Districts are hereby empowered
and authorized to appoint
a transitional committee to assist in the transition to
a consolidated fire district. Said transitional
committee may make recommendations to the four (4) existing
boards of fire commissioners and
may be empowered by resolution of the existing boards of
commissioners to act on their behalf
on matters relating to this consolidation.
SECTION 2. The Cumberland Town Council shall have the
authority, in accordance with
the vote of the electors at the general election of
November 2, 2010, to implement this
consolidation plan through arranging for the election and
appropriating such municipal funds and
resources necessary to carry out the implementation of this
act.
SECTION 3. Sections 2, 3 and 10 of Section 1 and Sections 2
and 3 of this act shall take
effect upon passage. The remaining sections of this act
shall take effect upon the election of the
terms or provisions of the Public Laws which created and/or
amended the charters of the
of this act shall control.
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LC02310/SUB A/2
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