Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $27,500 to be added to the Firefighters Turn Out Gear/Personal Protective Equipment Capital Reserve Fund established for that purpose under Article 17 of the 2019 Annual Town Meeting. Said sum of $27,500 to come from the Unassigned Fund Balance? (Majority vote required)
What it means: In 2019, voters approved a $200,000 funding of a new Capital Reserve Fund for the replacement of Firefighter’s Protective Gear. This fund needs to be added to each year so that as gear expires and funds are depleted, additional funds will be available for future needs. It is a way to prevent taxpayers from being presented with a large bill all in one year. This Article would transfer the funds from the Unassigned Fund Balance to the Capital Reserve Fund.
Those in favor say: This is an annual procedure to keep our Firefighters safe. The protective gear worn by a firefighter is exposed to potential carcinogens while fighting a blaze. A second set of firefighting protective equipment is needed in order to allow contaminated gear to be properly contained and cleaned, while another set remains ready for use. There are strict standards with regard to the amount of service the gear can see before it must be replaced. To pay for this expense, a reserve fund was established and must be replenished. This Article allows funds to be taken from the Unassigned Fund Balance for this purpose.
Those against say: No one spoke against this article at the Deliberative Session.
Fiscal impact: There is no new tax impact because the money was appropriated in prior tax years. This Article is allowing the withdrawal of the money from the Unassigned Fund Balance to be transferred to the previously-established Firefighters Protective Equipment Reserve Fund.