Bill
LD 1103
LD 1103 permanently allows school administrative units to carry forward up to 9% of the prior year’s SAU budget as unallocated funds.
Overview
- Bill number: LD 1103
- Title: An Act Regarding Unallocated Balances In A School Administrative Unit School Budget
- Purpose: Codify a permanent carry-forward threshold for unallocated balances in a School Administrative Unit (SAU) budget
- Current status: Signed by Governor (became law)
- Introduction: March 14, 2025
- Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
- Final disposition: Passed by the Legislature in May 2025; signed into law June 9, 2025
Purpose and intent
- The bill makes permanent the rule allowing school boards to carry forward unallocated balances from the previous year, up to a specific percentage of that year’s SAU budget.
- Specifically, it sets the threshold at 9% of the previous year’s SAU budget. This gives districts continued flexibility to preserve unallocated funds for future use without requiring those funds to be reappropriated annually.
Key provisions
- Permanently establishes a 9% carry-forward threshold: Each year, a school board may carry forward up to 9% of the previous year’s SAU budget as unallocated balance.
- Scope: Applies to unallocated balances within a SAU school budget.
- No amendments noted: The fiscal note indicates the change is enacted without amendments affecting the threshold.
Fiscal impact
- State fiscal impact: None. Both fiscal notes (LR 811(01) and LR 811(03)) indicate no state fiscal impact.
- Total cost of K–12 education and state share: The notes state that making the 9% carry-forward threshold permanent will not alter the total cost of public education from kindergarten through 12th grade or the State’s share of that cost.
Affected entities
- Primary: School Administrative Units (SAUs) and their school boards in Maine.
- Secondary: The state funding framework for K–12 education remains unchanged by this act.
Implementation timeline and legislative history
- Intro/Referral: March 14, 2025; referred to Education and Cultural Affairs.
- Process: Passed through standard legislative steps in May 2025, including reports, readings, and engrossment/concurrence actions.
- Voted and enacted: Majority Ought to Pass reports and passage to engross, with concurrence as part of the final steps in May 2025.
- Governor action: Signed into law on June 9, 2025.
Plain-language takeaway
LD 1103 codifies a permanent rule allowing Maine SAUs to carry forward up to 9% of the prior year’s budget as unallocated funds. This change provides ongoing budgetary flexibility for districts without changing the overall cost of public education or the state’s funding share.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
Sign in to ask a question.
