Shall the School District raise and appropriate as an operating budget, not including appropriations by special warrant articles and other appropriations voted separately, the amounts set forth on the budget posted with the warrant, or as amended by vote of the first session, for the purposes set forth therein, totaling $32,220,010? Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $31,840,467, which is the same as last year, with certain adjustments required by previous action of the District or by law; or the governing body may hold one special meeting, in accordance with RSA 40:13, X and XVI, to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only?

What it means: The SAU 90 Proposed Operating Budget is 5% more than last year (an increase of  $1,583,109).  Three-quarters (76%)  of that is from increases in the Default Budget (non-discretionary):

Note: The school district is seeking a salary increase and associated benefits for 59 Non-Union employees; which includes food services, custodial, ABA techs, RBT, admins and SAU office.  These salary and benefit increases represent over half ($217,480) of the Proposed Budget increase over the Default.

Those in favor say: Regarding the increases to the salaries and benefits for the 59 non-union employees, the school district is competing with other schools to hire support staff. It has been very challenging to find people, and some of this is due to potential applicants not being able to afford to live in this area. The requested increase will help to keep the District competitive, whereas over the years since SAU 90 was initiated, the non-union employee salaries have failed to keep up with increases in the cost of living thus making the District uncompetitive.

Those opposed say: No one spoke against the Article at the SAU 90 Deliberative Session.

Fiscal Impact: The estimated additional tax rate impact for the 2026 SAU 90 Budget is $0.28 per thousand. For a home valued at $600,000 that would be $168.00.

The estimated additional tax rate for Default SAU 90 Budget (should the Proposed Budget be defeated) is $0.20 per thousand, or $120.00 for that $600,000 property.

Shall the School District vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $350,000 to continue long term maintenance, repair and modernization work to include technical and/or engineering services at Hampton’s Centre school buildings and Batchelder Pond? This article is a continuation of an annual program planned to keep the buildings updated and in good condition, thereby protecting the taxpayer’s investment. Projects planned for 2026-28 are listed below.

Centre School – Boiler $ 300,000

Batchelder Pond – Vegetation clean up $ 50,000 (Note: Owned by SAU 90)

Total : $ 350,000

What it means: This is an annual request to keep the buildings and properties in good condition. After many years at $300,00 the amount has increased to $350,000 in keeping with inflation over time.

Those in favor say: Paying for ongoing maintenance helps to prevent more expensive repairs or student displacement in the future. Maintenance of the buildings is costly; these are old buildings; Centre School is the oldest public school in New Hampshire. This article appears every year and is intended for long-term upkeep or modernization work individualized for maintenance needs of the particular year/situation.

Those against say: No one spoke against the Article at the SAU 90 Deliberative Session.

Fiscal Impact:  The total tax impact of this Article for a home valued at $600,000 is $34.48. However, since there was a similar, approved Article last year for $300,000, the additional $50,000 over last year means that the increase sought amounts to an additional tax impact for the $600,000 home of $6.00.

Shall the School District vote to raise and appropriate funds in the amount of $48,626 to provide child benefit services, in accordance with RSA 189:49, for students who are residents of the Hampton School District and attend Sacred Heart School located in Hampton, New Hampshire? BY PETITION.

What it means: Sacred Heart School is a private religious institution in Hampton. Hampton students electively attend Sacred Heart as opposed to attending the Hampton public schools. This Article asks for an offset for child benefit services in lieu of the taxpayers paying for the students to attend public school. There are 41 Hampton students who are in attendance at Sacred Heart School in the current academic year (out of about 240 total enrollment in grades Pre-K through 8). The dollar amount requested is $1,186 per student. About 30% of the funding goes toward health-related services, and the balance to technology and similar items.

Those in favor say:  As long as the funds are used for the child benefit services listed in the NH law, they may be appropriated for those purposes. The use of the funding by Sacred Heart School falls within the allowed purposes. Sacred Heart School sends invoices to the SAU 90 office, which is responsible for assuring they are valid and appropriate requests, and then the invoices are paid. No money is dispensed directly to the school.

Parents of Sacred Heart students are also Hampton taxpayers and they pay the same tax rate for SAU 90 as the parents whose children attend the public school. If those 41 children were to attend the SAU 90 schools, the cost might not be the same cost-per-student as SAU 90 (over $30,000) but it would certainly be more than the $1,186 that is being asked via this petition, especially because the funds are used for health-related and technology resources, which would be required regardless of which school the child attends.

Those opposed say: Some who opposed this request are concerned about separation of church and state. People have expressed concerns about supporting a religious organization, even if the funds are not specifically used for religious purposes. Some questioned why the families don’t just use the Education Freedom Account (EFA) to manage the additional cost, should the parents choose to send their children to a private school.

Fiscal Impact: A home valued at $600,000 would see an increased tax impact of  $5.00 if this article passes.

Shall each SAU-90 Warrant Article pertaining to budget and spending display a Fiscal Impact Note identifying the taxpayer cost of that article in cost per $1,000 home valuation, as well as the corresponding impact for a home valuation of $600,000? When passed, subsequent SAU90 annual ballots will display the Fiscal Impact Note. This Fiscal Impact Note can only be removed by a vote of the Hampton registered voters.

What it means: Similar to the way the Town ballot provides the cost of money articles on the basis of property valuation, this Article is seeking to also have that information provided on the SAU 90 ballot.

Those in favor say:  It is appropriate for the voters who are being asked to fund a proposal to know how much it will cost them in terms that make sense to them.

Those opposed say: There was some question about legality, but the basis for this concern was not made clear at the SAU 90 Deliberative Session.

Fiscal impact: There is no direct tax impact.