(a) A union school district may vote to establish its budget by Australian ballot under the provisions of 17 V.S.A. § 2680. At the same time the union school district shall also vote whether the ballots shall be commingled.

(b) The votes whether to use the Australian ballot and whether to commingle the ballots shall be taken by written ballot. The questions shall be in substantially the following form:

"Shall the (union school district name) adopt its budget by Australian ballot?"

"If the (union school district name) votes to adopt its budget by Australian ballot, shall the ballots be commingled?"

(c) If the union school district has voted to adopt its budget by Australian ballot, the question shall be in substantially the following form:

"Shall the (union school district name) adopt a budget of $ ................. for school year ............................... ?"

(d) If the union school district has voted to commingle its ballots, the ballots shall be deposited in separate containers at each polling place. The board of civil authority may open the containers and count the number of ballots cast in the election, but shall not count the ballots for purposes of determining the outcome of the election. At the closing of the polls, the municipal clerk or his or her designee shall appoint a member or members of the board of civil authority who shall transport the sealed container to the clerk of the union school district. Under the supervision of the union school district clerk, the appointed members of the boards of civil authority shall count the commingled ballots. The budget shall be established if a majority of the votes cast are in favor.

(e) If the union school district has voted not to commingle its ballots, the municipal clerks of the member towns shall transmit to the union school district clerk the results of the vote upon completion of the counting. The budget shall be established if a majority of the votes cast are in favor.

(f) If the proposed budget is rejected, the union district board shall prepare a revised budget. The board shall establish a date for vote on the revised budget, and shall take appropriate steps to warn a public informational meeting on the budget and the vote. The date of the public informational meeting shall be at least five days following the public notice. The date of the vote shall be at least seven days following the public notice. The vote on the revised budget shall be by Australian ballot and shall take place in the same locations that the first vote was taken. The budget shall be established if a majority of all votes cast are in favor. If the revised budget is rejected, the board shall repeat the procedure in this subsection until the budget is adopted.

(g) Unless clearly inconsistent, the provisions of 17 V.S.A. chapter 55 shall apply to actions taken under this section. (Added 1983, No. 65; amended 1989, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2003, No. 107 (Adj. Sess.), § 7.)