Winnacunnet Coop. Sch. Dist. v. Town of Seabrook
| Decision Date | 18 November 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 2001–434.,2001–434. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
| Parties | WINNACUNNET COOPERATIVE SCHOOL DISTRICT v. TOWN OF SEABROOK. |
Casassa and Ryan, of Hampton (Robert A. Casassa on the brief), for the plaintiff.
Donahue, Tucker & Ciandella, of Exeter (Robert D. Ciandella and Robert M. Derosier on the brief), for the defendant.
The defendant, the Town of Seabrook (town), the intervenors, individual town taxpayers, and the plaintiff, the Winnacunnet Cooperative School District (WCSD), all appeal from the Superior Court's (Abramson , J.) denial of their cross-motions for summary judgment. We treat this matter as an interlocutory appeal under Supreme Court Rule 8 and reverse.
We accept the statement of the case presented in the agreed-upon facts submitted to the lower court. See Trovato v. DeVeau, 143 N.H. 523, 524, 736 A.2d 1212 (1999). The WCSD was organized in 1957. Since its inception, its members have been the towns of Seabrook, Hampton, Hampton Falls and North Hampton.
When the WCSD was formed, the statutes governing apportionment of costs among member towns permitted a cooperative school district to allocate capital costs pursuant to one formula and operating costs pursuant to a different formula. See Laws 1955, 334:9,:10. Laws 1955, 334:9 mandated that capital costs be allocated according to a formula that used the equalized valuation of town property as its basis, while Laws 1955, 334:10 gave cooperative school districts a choice between two formulas for allocating operating costs. One formula was the same as the formula required for capital costs; the other formula relied both upon equalized valuation and upon average daily pupil membership. See Laws 1955, 334:9,:10; In re Kearsarge Regional School Dist., 138 N.H. 211, 213, 636 A.2d 1033 (1994).
When the WCSD was first organized, the applicable statutes required the qualified voters of the constituent towns of a proposed cooperative school district to choose a formula by which to apportion operating costs at the first organizational meeting of the cooperative school district. See Laws 1953, 225:3; Laws 1955, 334:7,:10. At the first organizational meeting of the WCSD, the qualified voters of the member towns voted to allocate operating costs pursuant to the formula that used both equalized valuation and average daily pupil membership as its bases. The legislature approved the WCSD's organizational meeting on July 3, 1957. Laws 1957, ch. 415.
In 1959, approximately two years after the WCSD was formed, the legislature amended the statutes governing apportionment of capital and operating costs to give cooperative school districts a choice of allocation formulas for capital costs. See Laws 1959, ch. 195. Also in 1959, a new provision was added that: (1) required that the basis for the apportionment of capital and operating costs be reviewed "[a]t the expiration of the first five-year period and at the expiration of each subsequent five-year period"; and (2) permitted the cooperative school district "by majority vote [to] elect to apportion all such costs" according to one of the statutory formulas. Laws 1959, 195:2. The 1959 amendments took effect on July 1, 1959, and applied "to any cooperative district organized prior to the effective date hereof as well as to such districts hereafter organized." Laws 1959, 195:3,:4.
Two years later, in 1961, when the WCSD was in its fourth year of operation, these provisions were again amended. See Laws 1961, ch. 206. The 1961 amendments added a third method by which cooperative school districts could choose to apportion their capital or operating costs. See Laws 1961, 206:4,:5. The amendments permitted cooperative school districts to apportion their costs pursuant to "[s]ome other formula offered by the cooperative school board, adopted by the cooperative school district and approved by the board." Laws 1961, 206:4; see In re Kearsarge Regional School Dist., 138 N.H. at 213, 636 A.2d 1033. These amendments took effect on August 27, 1961. Laws 1961, 206:7.
On March 5, 1963, at the annual meeting of the WCSD, a petition presented a warrant article to the qualified voters of the member towns, asking if the WCSD would adopt by majority vote "a new formula for the apportionment of costs of capital outlay and operation as defined in [Laws 1961, 206:4,:5]." The voters rejected the warrant article.
In 1963, the legislature again amended the statutes governing cooperative school districts. See Laws 1963, ch. 258. These amendments took effect on July 1, 1963. Laws 1963, 258:15. The 1963 amendments added a new statute, RSA 195:18, to address procedures for cooperative school districts formed after June 30, 1963. See Laws 1963, 258:1.
Laws 1963, 258:1 required any school district, after June 30, 1963, interested in forming a cooperative school district to create a cooperative school district planning board. See id. The planning board was then required to prepare proposed articles of agreement, which would set forth, among other items, "[t]he method of apportioning the operating expenses" and "[t]he method of apportioning the capital expenses" of the cooperative school district. Id. The statute expressly permitted the cooperative school district to apportion capital and operating costs according to different formulas. See id. After the planning board approved the proposed articles of agreement, following public hearing, the voters in each constituent town were to have an opportunity to vote upon whether to be a part of the proposed cooperative school district. See id.
In 1963, the legislature also amended the statute concerning the five-year review period to make the five-year review permissive, instead of mandatory. See Laws 1963, 258:7. As amended, this statute provided:
After the expiration of the first five-year period measured from the date of the first annual meeting and after the expiration of each subsequent five-year period measured from the date of the last change thereto, the basis for the apportionment of all [capital and operating] costs may be subject to review, pursuant to an article for that purpose duly inserted in the warrant for a district meeting, and the cooperative school district may then by majority vote elect to apportion all such costs by the adoption of either formula I, II or III, as defined in section 7 of this chapter. Such apportionment may be reviewed in the same manner at any time in order to permit annexation of a school district or an increase in the number of grades for which the district shall be responsible.
Id. (emphasis added).
The 1963 amendments also included a savings clause, which provided, in pertinent part:
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to invalidate the organization of or any action taken by any cooperative school district heretofore organized. The organization of all cooperative school districts completed prior to the effective date of this act and the proceedings taken with respect to the organization of any cooperative school district, the organization of which has not been completed prior to the effective date of this act, are hereby expressly validated and confirmed.
Laws 1963, 258:14.
Since 1963, the WCSD has twice considered whether to change the formulas for apportioning capital and operating costs. At the 1972 annual meeting of the WCSD, the WCSD approved, by majority vote, a warrant article submitted by a petition initiated by town voters to apportion capital and operating costs according to a single formula based solely upon average daily pupil membership. Following the annual meeting, the approved warrant article was submitted to the State Board of Education for approval. A consultant to the State Board of Education advised that the proposed change was unwise because "financing a cooperative entirely on average daily membership is the least fair method for apportioning school costs among member towns." After review, the State Board of Education declined to approve the change in the formulas for apportionment of costs.
At the 1979 annual meeting of the WCSD, individuals from the town submitted an amended warrant article to see if the WCSD would establish a study committee to recommend whether to revise the methods of apportioning capital and operating costs. The WCSD approved this amended article, and in 1980, the WCSD approved the report of the study committee, which had recommended that the WCSD retain its present allocation methods and that it evaluate these methods again "when more accurate financial data on the effects of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant is known."
According to the record, no other actions have been taken by the WCSD to change the methods by which it allocates capital and operating costs among its constituent towns. The WCSD continues to allocate capital and operating costs pursuant to the two formulas it originally adopted in 1957.
The instant dispute concerns the town's refusal in May 2000 to pay its monthly share of capital costs. The town withheld the funds on the ground that the formula for apportioning capital costs based solely upon equalized valuation had never been voted upon by the WCSD and, thus, had never been legally applied to the town.
The WCSD subsequently petitioned for a temporary and permanent injunction to require the town to make its May 2000 payment. In response to this petition, the town asserted that by using different formulas to allocate capital and operating costs among its constituent towns, the WCSD violated the 1959 amendment to RSA chapter 195, which, it claimed, required the WCSD to apportion capital and operating costs pursuant to the same formula and to choose one of two formulas by submitting the issue to a vote. See Laws 1959, ch. 195. In addition to seeking a declaration that the formula the WCSD used to apportion capital expenses was illegal, the town asked the court to order the WCSD to reimburse it for any amounts...
To continue reading
Request your trial