132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 247		LR 204(01)
	An Act Regarding Recommendations for Changing Place Names in the State
	Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement for Original Bill
	Sponsor: Sen. Talbot Ross of Cumberland
	Committee: State and Local Government
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded
			FY 2025-26	FY 2026-27	Projections  FY 2027-28	Projections  FY 2028-29
Net Cost (Savings)
	General Fund		$1,485	$1,980	$1,980	$1,980
Appropriations/Allocations
	General Fund		$1,485	$1,980	$1,980	$1,980
	Other Special Revenue Funds		$500	$500	$500	$500
State Mandates
	Required Activity				Unit Affected	Local Cost
	Requires municipal officers and county commissioners to notify and work with the Maine Board of Place Names if a place name within the municipality or unorganized territory is found to be offensive.				Municipality County	Insignificant statewide
	The required local activities in this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. If the bill does require a local unit of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenue, the state mandate provisions of the Constitution of Maine require either: (1) General Fund appropriations be provided to fund at least 90% of any additional necessitated local costs of the mandate; or (2) a Mandate Preamble be added to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate from the funding requirement. If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these actions occurs, the local units of government will not be required to implement the mandated activities.
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	The bill includes a General Fund appropriation to the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Maine Board of Place Names program of $1,485 in fiscal year 2025-26 and $1,980 in fiscal year 2026-27 to provide funds for per diem costs associated with meetings of the board. This amount assumes 3 members of the board are eligible for the per diem and the per diem is paid for 9 meetings in fiscal year 2025-26 and 12 meetings in fiscal year 2026-27.
	This bill also includes a base allocation of $500 per year beginning in fiscal year 2025-26 to a newly created Maine Board of Place Names account within the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to allow acceptance and expenditure of funding from private and public sources.
	Any additional costs to the Department of Secretary of State, the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, the University of Maine System, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry associated with serving on the Maine Board of Place Names are expected to be minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources.