Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $11,000 for the purpose of completing the construction and enclosing of the Cemetery Building at the High Street Cemetery, including a) strapping and insulation of the garage/work area; b) sheet rocking and joint taping; c) installation of LED lighting fixtures and 2 electrical outlets and, remounting of light switches; d) installation of 45,000 BTU LP heating system with gas piping and exhaust piping and, appropriate wiring and thermostat and to authorize funding for said appropriation through the withdrawal of $11,000 from the principal in the Cemetery Maintenance Trust Fund, which has a principal balance of more than $500,000 generated from the sale of cemetery burial Lots? (Majority vote required)
What it means: The work described will be performed using principal from a fund that was set up specifically for cemetery maintenance. This fund was previously set up such that only the interest could be withdrawn and used annually for maintenance. In 2016, voters passed a Warrant Article to allow money to also be deducted from the principal.
Those in favor say: These are Town-owned cemeteries, and the Town is responsible for their upkeep. The work needs to be done, and the funding available to the Cemetery Trustees is limited. The annual interest from the fund was $16,000 last year and about $20,000 this year. This is not enough to fund the larger expenses, as well as pay for general annual maintenance. Articles 31, 32 and 33 outline work/equipment of $103,000.
Those against say: The issue with Articles 31, 32 and 33 is that the Cemetery Maintenance Fund was set up to use the annual interest to support upkeep. If the principal is reduced by the amounts requested in these 3 articles, it will reduce the fund by about 20%. This in turn will substantially reduce the interest in future years that is available to support needed annual care of the cemeteries.
Fiscal impact: There is no direct tax impact because the money will be taken from a dedicated cemetery fund. However, removing principal will reduce the available funding in future years.