relative to the default budget for official ballot town meetings.
What changed between versions
Funds allocated to vacant public safety positions in the default budget can now be used for overtime and contracted services consistent with the position's purpose, not just for hiring a new person into that role. This gives towns more flexibility to maintain public safety coverage when a position stays vacant.
A new subsection (4) is added to the default budget calculation formula in RSA 40:13, XI(a), explicitly listing reductions for eliminated positions, vacant positions, and benefit expenditures as part of the formula, with a cross-reference to the public safety exception in subparagraph IX(d).
The definition of 'default budget' is reworded to add the word 'reduced' before each position-related deduction (eliminated positions and vacant positions), making it clearer that these are subtractions from the default budget amount rather than just items in a list.
The condition for when vacant positions under recruitment count as 'eliminated' is reworded from 'unless vacant before the previous year's approved budget was approved' to 'if vacancy occurred after the previous year's budget was approved.' The legal effect is the same, but the new phrasing states the exception more directly.
