What it means: The petitioner requested at Deliberative Session to have this Article deleted from the Warrant. The rationale was that, with subsequent understanding of how the Unassigned Fund Balance works, it became clear that the Unassigned Fund Balance cannot be eliminated, and it would be better to remove the question from the ballot. That is not permitted by state law, however, once it is posted for Deliberative Session.
Those in favor say: No one (including the petitioner who was present) spoke in favor of this Article.
Those against say: It is simply not possible – nor prudent – to eliminate the Unassigned Fund Balance. It serves as an emergency fund for the Town, and it helps to keep the cost of bond borrowing lower. There are only 3 ways to withdraw money from the Unassigned Fund: 1) Approval by the NH Department of Revenue Administration of an emergency expenditure; 2) Putting forward to the voters specific Warrant Article(s) that approve the purpose; or 3) Applying some of the revenue towards reducing the amount of tax revenue needed to be raised. Both #2 and #3 were utilized by the Town on this year’s Warrant.
Fiscal impact: No direct tax impact, however if it was even possible to do this, there would be increased costs each time we had a bond article. The bond rating agencies use the Town’s available emergency funds as a way of establishing credit-worthiness of the municipality. If we had no emergency funds on hand, it would reduce Hampton’s rating and increase the cost of borrowing.