Cornell Law School, J.D., 1986, Board of Editors, Cornell Law Review

Cornell University, M.S., 1979

Cornell University, B.A., 1977

Martindale Hubbell, AV Preeminent

Best Lawyers, Public Finance Law (2009-2025)

Best Lawyers, Education Law (2009-2025)

Listed in the “Red Book” of Municipal Bond Attorneys

Bill Stockmeyer’s extensive experience includes:

• For the Town of Skowhegan, Bill developed an advisory ranked choice referendum on the proposed options for the construction financing of the Town’s public safety building. Because Maine’s ranked choice voting statute was limited to certain candidate elections, Bill conceived and implemented a “Yes/No” bond referendum question in combination with an advisory, ranked choice referendum on the multiple site options. The Board of Selectmen used the advisory rankings to break an impasse on the choice of sites, allowing the bond financing for the project to proceed.
• For RSU 39’s state funded elementary school project in Caribou, Maine, Bill negotiated and drafted agreements and coordinated transactions to assemble the new school site. The site assembly included multiple real estate exchanges between RSU 39, the City of Caribou, and a local developer; a street discontinuance; conveyances from abutters; the relocation of a City park requiring approvals by the City Council and the office of the Maine Attorney General; and National Park Service approval of a 6(f) conversion (relocation) of federal Land and Water conservation grant projects.
• In numerous situations, Bill has moderated annual budget meetings for Maine school districts. His experience gained at these meetings has enabled him to help in situations where budget annual meetings had previously “gone off the rails.”

• During the COVID-19 emergency, Bill has advised numerous school districts on the steps and legal documents required for expedited budget approval, as well as on emergency procurements using federal funds.
• Bill is advising on the organizational structure for Maine’s new “integrated consolidated schools,” which involve a new state funding resource for school construction for combined secondary and post-secondary instruction. The new school entities will require some degree of cooperation among the legally separate participants, but will also need to attend to the need for local control of education in rural Maine. The correct form of instructional governance is expected to release significant state construction funding aid for rural Maine.
• Bill has helped other school districts in need of enabling legislation for particular needs, including drafting the private and special legislation for the formation of RSU 1, a year in advance of general enabling legislation for RSUs.
• Bill researched and drafted appropriate documentation for Maine schools to receive allocations of the State’s qualified school construction bonds, qualified zone academy bonds, and qualified energy conservation bonds, enabling them to issue these federal tax credit bonds at zero and near-zero interest rates. Without this work, most if not all of the State’s allocations would have expired.

Primary Author, School Finance Chapter, Maine School Law, 6th edition (2018).

American College of Bond Counsel

National Association of Bond Lawyers

Maine Council of School Board Attorneys

Maine State Bar Association

National Council of School Board Attorneys

Morrison Center
Finance Committee and Board of Directors