SAU 90 Article 1: Operating Budget for 2021

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 $24,400,670? Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $24,249,206, 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?  (Majority vote required.)

What it means:  The SAU 90 Proposed Operating Budget is $151,464 more than the Default Budget, or a difference of six-tenths of one percent.  This difference, according to materials presented at the SAU 90 Deliberative Session, breaks out as follows:

Those in favor say:  The following rationale was provided for the increase requested:

Non-Union Increases – The Hampton School District has fallen behind nearby districts with regard to salaries.  As a result, it is difficult to fill positions that are important to the running of the schools, such as custodial workers and food service workers.

Assistant Principal and Psychologist – Three positions that had been funded were eliminated, saving $105,471 on an on-going basis.  This was done to help cover positions that are considered to be essential, including an Assistant Principal at Centre School, and a Psychologist (a needed function, given the negative mental effects of the pandemic on the students).  The net of the savings and the increases due to the new positions adds $33,981to the budget amount.

Food Services Director – This change was reviewed with auditors, who concurred that most school districts have the Food Services Director position in the main budget, not as part of food services.  There is a corollary decrease in the food services budget, but it still counts an increase in the operating budget.

Additional Comments:  Addressing the issue of enrollment changes from year to year, the cost of salaries and overhead make up the bulk of the school budget and those items do not change when student enrollment decreases slightly, especially when enrollment can increase again the following year.  For example, enrollment was 1,087 in the Fall of 2017, and fell to 1,057 in the Fall of 2018, only to increase again in 2019 to 1,084.  In 2020, the enrollment fell again due to parents deciding to place children in private schools and/or to home school the children due to the pandemic.  Some of those children will return to the public school when the pandemic has calmed.

Most households in Hampton can expect an increase of less than $20 to support the Operating Budget over the Default Budget for SAU 90.

Those against say:  Although this year’s increase is less than one percent, over the past several years, the school budget has been increasing.  The voters agreed to three School Resource Officers, which added to the budget, and the cost of the bond financing for Hampton Academy has also added to ongoing budget requirements.  Some people against the proposed operating budget point to declining enrollment as a reason for holding firm on the school’s budget.

Fiscal Impact: Adoption of the Proposed Operating Budget will cause an increase in taxes of $65.01 for a Hampton home valued at $400,000.  Take your property valuation divided by 1000 and multiplied by .163 to get your cost. Should this Article fail, the Default Budget will incur an increased tax of $48.91 for the home valued at $400,000. The differential budget being voted on is $16.10 for the example valuation.