Do Cities have to follow HJR 192

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http://www.mainemediaresources.com/cr_july03.htm

Does the City of Presque Isle Obey Maine State Law?

City Manager, Tom Stevens, says, "...I don't understand the question."



By: David Deschesne

Many believe that the law applies equally to everyone - including the government. To test this theory I wrote to Presque Isle City Manger, Tom Stevens and asked him if the City of Presque Isle abided by Title 11 of the Maine Revised Statutes - the Uniform Commercial Code - in all of its commercial transactions. He replied, "The question you pose is very broad, for Title 11 encompasses two complete law books and covers 10 different articles of the Code. Thus, I am unable to answer your question. If you can be more specific, I will attempt to answer any questions you might have about City practices." After about a year of study, I re-stated my question to Mr. Stevens. I asked him if the city of Presque Isle obeys Maine State Law as codified in Title 11, Chapter 3-a, Section 1603 as it relates to the City’s commercial transactions? I believed that was the specificity he required in order to answer. He again responded, "I do not understand the questions posed in your letter. If you could be more specific, I will attempt to answer."

The Uniform Commercial Code is the law which governs all commercial and financial transactions. All corporations which do business in Maine are bound to obey the laws contained in Title 11 when they contract or trade with commercial paper. Since the City of Presque Isle (as with virtually every other municipality in the state) is incorporated, and provides a product or service which taxpayers are required to pay for (police, fire, school, etc.) they must also follow this law.

The particular section about which I queried Mr. Stevens is very interesting. Paraphrased, it basically says that if a payment is attempted on a debt, and the payment is refused, the debt is discharged and not owed anymore. With the passage of House Joint Resolution 192, June 9, 1933, the United States’ public policy abolished the use of gold or silver as legal tender and substituted notes - as described in the UCC. Since banks trade promissory notes as money on a daily basis, I was curious if we, the taxpayers, could discharge our debts with promissory notes (to be paid in the future with more promissory notes) since that is exactly what the government does every single day.

If the City of Presque Isle were to acknowledge obedience to 11MRS Ch. 3-a, §1603 then when a Certified Promissory note is tendered for payment of the debt (tax payment) and refused by the city, the debt should be discharged. The same way if a restaurant refuses to accept your $100 bill because they can’t make change, the debt is discharged - you owe them nothing.

A follow-up E-mail to State Representative Jeremy Fischer helped to shed a little more light on the topic. When I presented the above situation to him, he responded more intelligently by stating, "I contacted the Maine Municipal Association’s legal department in regards to your question about the UCC and municipalities (this is what Tom should have done for you...) After two days research, they concluded that the UCC would govern some transactions where the city could be considered as transacting business. The answer is probably a lot more complex than this, but on the surface of the UCC, there is no exemption for municipalities."

The Maine Criminal Code also appears to clarify the City’s standing as it pertains to obeying State Law. In Title 17-A, Chapter 3, Sec. 60, it states,

1. An organization is guilty of a crime when:

A. It omits to discharge a specific duty of affirmative performance imposed on it by law, and the omission is prohibited by this code or by a statute defining a criminal offense outside this code.

Section 2 of the Criminal Code defines an organization as: "a corporation, partnership or unincorporated association." The City of Presque Isle certainly is a corporation so they, therefore appear to be held to the same standards in law as the rest of Maine’s inhabitants.

Attempting to enforce those principles as you have so carefully sought out, is another story altogether. It appears that when they desire to accomplish something stradles the line between lawful and un-lawful, they also have a tendency to change the rules as necessary to negate the requirements that would normally be imposed upon them.

Jerry.