Shall the Town of Hampton vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to enter into a 5-year lease purchase agreement for a Mack &Wheel Dump Truck with plow, patrol wing and Stainless Steel Sander in the amount of $210,050 and to raise and appropriate the sum of $42,010 to fund said lease-purchase agreement in year one; said lease-purchase agreement shall contain a nonappropriation clause? (Majority vote required)
What it means: This vehicle will replace a 1997 dump truck with over 80,000 miles. Voters are approving only the first-year lease price. The non–appropriation clause enables Hampton to terminate the lease agreement at the end of the current appropriation period without further obligation or penalty if for any reason the Town is unable to obtain funding for future payment obligations on the lease.
Those in favor say: Rather than ask Hampton taxpayers to support the cost of an outright purchase in one year, the lease arrangement allows us to spread the cost over 5 years. An additional benefit is that (aside from normal wear and tear) any major repair work will be the responsibility of the lease-holder. In 2018, repairs consumed a significant amount of taxpayer dollars.
Those against say: No one spoke against this article at theDeliberativeSession.
Fiscal impact: The $42,010 cost in 2019 will create an additional tax cost for the average Hampton home valued at $405,000 of $5.30. (Take your property value divided by 1000 and multiply by .013 to get your specific tax impact.) This decision affects the next 5 years tax cost.