Raised Bill No. 5554 - Regional Financing Options Summary

• Exempts voluntary regional consolidation efforts from collective bargaining agreements effective October 1, 2018, allowing municipalities to enter regional consolidation agreements without union restrictions on wages, hours, or employment conditions.

• Expands small town economic assistance program and Main Street Investment Fund to include regional councils of governments as eligible recipients, with grants up to $500,000 per participating municipality per fiscal year.

• Enables municipalities and regional councils of governments to jointly acquire capital equipment and vehicles through an incentive program with grant funding up to 80% of acquisition costs or $375,000, whichever is less.

• Requires municipalities and school boards to consult on joint purchasing of health insurance, property insurance, casualty insurance, and workers' compensation insurance, and mandates school boards enter into cooperative agreements when municipal services are available at lower cost.

• Allows school building construction and public works projects to use cooperative purchase contracts through regional educational service centers or regional councils of governments as alternative to traditional competitive bidding processes.