Rational Taxpayers of Hampton Warn of Rising Taxes

In 2013 alone, the municipal tax rate is slated to increase by 6% with the approval of all the warrant articles.  In 2014, with an aggressive DPW forecast, your municipal tax rates are set to go up by a whopping 18% over 2012  Together with the rising school budgets, capital expenditures and the payments of funded debt, the tax impact could become dire for many of our taxpayers in this tough economy.

Rational Taxpayers of Hampton would propose savings of $740,000 in 2013 based on taking specific actions on Warrant Articles concerning Vehicle and Equipment wash down facility ($500,000), Fire Vehicle capital reserve fund ($150,000) and Wastewater facilities plan ($90,000).  The vehicle wash down facility estimate is premature and will suffer the same fate as the Exeter Road work that started with an estimate of $200,000 ended up with $600,000 actual cost!  Fire vehicle capital reserve fund should be funded over a period of time so no one expenditure item would significantly impact the tax rate.  The waste water facilities plan is not necessary.  The projected 2013 municipal tax rate increase of 6% can be reduced to a more manageable level of less than half.  We need to manage capital spending in a way that gets the work done without sticker shock. You can affect the outcome of these items if you vote. We cannot let our community be run by 3000 voters when 9700 voted in the national elections.

For detailed discussions on these topics please visit the web site www.rationaltaxpayersofhampton.org.

From Rational Taxpayers of Hampton

Norman Silberdick