Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $183,039 for the cost of Hampton’s contribution to twenty-one (21) human service agencies in the Seacoast in the amounts corresponding to the agencies’ requests in the right hand column as follows:
These twenty-one (21) human service agencies shall each be required to give a written report at the end of the calendar or fiscal year 2020 to the Board of Selectmen highlighting what the funds were used for and what impact the funds had in assisting to achieve their goals and objectives? (Majority vote required)
What it means:Each of the listed agencies will receive a donation from the town in the noted amount. The funds raised and donated last year are provided for comparison. This is an “all or none” Warrant Article. If the Article passes, all the listed agencies receive the specified donations. If it fails, none do.
Those in favor say:This is something we do every year. These agencies handle issues that the town would need to handle if the agencies were not, so these donations avoid other, possibly higher taxpayer expenses.
Those against say: This sort of funding should be voluntary, not mandated via property taxes. A person should not be required to support all of these agencies if he or she has a philosophical disagreement with one or more on the list.
Fiscal impact: The $183,039 cost in 2020 will create an additional tax cost for a Hampton home valued at $400,000 of $19.60. This decision affects the current year only. Take your property value divided by 1000 times .049 to get your cost.