Shall the Town of Hampton vote to establish a contingency fund for the current year for unanticipated expenses that may arise and further to raise and appropriate $200,000 to put in this fund. This sum to come from the Unassigned Fund Balance. Any appropriation left in the fund at the end of the year will lapse to the general fund? (Majority vote required)
What it means: This was proposed by the Town Manager to cover unexpected increases in costs, due to rapidly increasing inflation. If the money is not needed, it will be returned to the general coffers at the end of the year (once again become part of the Unassigned Fund Balance).
Those in favor say: This seemed a prudent thing to do, given the unpredictability of expense items.
Those against say: There is plenty of money in the budget to cover unexpected hikes in cost items. This special put-aside is not necessary.
Fiscal impact: There would be no new tax impact, since this money has already been collected. The intent of the article is to set it aside for this purpose.