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 $25,005,913? Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be $24,680,704, 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 more than the Default Budget by $325,210. Non-Union salary increases and associated benefits represent more than half of that difference. As compared to last year’s actual budget, the Proposed Operating Budget represents an increase of 1.3%.
Those in favor say: The overall budget (up 1.3%) is increasing less than the CPI of 5.9%. The District has worked hard to control costs, and still provide Hampton’s children with an excellent education.
Those against say: No one spoke against the Article at the SAU 90 Deliberative Session.
Fiscal Impact: The difference between the actual budget from 2021-22 ($24,807,739) and what is proposed for 2022-23 is $198,174. That difference will add $20.48 to the tax due for a household valued at $400,000.
Take your property valuation divided by 1000 and multiplied by .05 to get your cost increase versus the tax bill last year.
Note: The Default Budget is actually a decrease versus last year’s Operating Budget due to savings from retirements and hiring savings. Looking at the Proposed Budget versus what would be the case with the Default Budget, a home valued at $400,000 would see an increase of $33.62.