Tax Increases on the Horizon

Taxpayers Should Start to Prepare for Tax Increases

The proposed increases in Hampton’s municipal spending combining the Town Manager Welch’s 2014 operating budget and proposed warrant articles, if approved, will lead to a 30% increase in the town’s portion of the tax rate over the next 3 years.  2014 will be the start of the debt service for the fire stations and the cost of the Church Street pump station will kick in the following year, so some of these increases cannot be avoided.  Our Selectmen over the past 6 years have done an outstanding job watching the budget. Costs have been scrutinized and the taxpayers have had the benefit of their collective wisdom in seeing a stable tax bill.

However, we are extremely disturbed by what we observed on Channel 22 watching at this past Monday’s Selectmen’s meeting, in particular by Selectman Woolsey who appeared to be on a spending spree.  Mary Louise Woolsey ran for office on a platform of ensuring the public’s money is spent properly, "This is all about money and it's public money. If I want to mess up my own personal finances, that's fine, but as an elected official you cannot mess with the public's money," she said.  When we supported Mary Louise Woolsey this past election we trusted her to be sensitive to the interests of the taxpayers.  At Monday’s meeting she supported additional spending of $140,000 for another full-time person in the Fire protection office without any consideration of alternatives such as a part-time employee, voted against a motion to limit cost of living raises to 1% implicitly supporting a 3% raise that was requested, was in favor of a 50% plus increase in spending on life guards, supported 25% to 50% increases in the parking lot attendants wages.  At one point in the meeting, based on her comments, it appeared that she blindsided the other Selectmen by reporting the Town of Hampton to the State of New Hampshire Labor Department in conjunction with achieving her goal of having a bathroom constructed at the Church Street parking lot.

Please contact Mary Louise Woolsey and let her know what you think about her lack of concern for the taxpayer. 

We also wish to address two other issues of great concern to Rational Taxpayers of Hampton. The first is paying for commercial trash and the second is finding a sensible way of being reimbursed for services provided the State on State owned property. As taxpayers we should not be subsidizing businesses nor the State that benefit other communities disproportionately from the meals and rooms taxes yet we pay for services on State owned property. It is up to Town leadership to provide the information and for a meaningful conversation to take place with the State on reimbursing Hampton. We have previously given our ideas on these subjects but they still linger without resolve.

For Rational Taxpayers of Hampton 

Norman Silberdick