If all municipal, SAU90 and Winnacunnet High School warrant articles pass this March the Hampton tax rate will increase by 7% to $17.53 this year. The accumulative increase in the taxes on an average single-family home will have risen from $5,989 in 2014 to $7,150 in 2018, a 19% increase of over $1,000 in only 4 years. At this rate we will be at $9,000 in another five years. The 2018 estimate does not even include the $11.8 million WWTP bond on the ballot, if approved it will not hit the tax rate until 2019.

In the past few years a number of high cost warrant articles have passed by less than 25 votes. With little effort, you can make a difference!

The Road Improvement Fund should be prioritized for use on those roads in Hampton that need to be reconstructed, paved or otherwise improved, NOT for the beautification project by Experience Hampton in Article 44 of last year’s warrant.

Rational Taxpayers of Hampton will support Warrant Article 7 calling for a bond issue for $11,780,000 for necessary upgrades to the Waste Water Treatment Plant. During the public hearings for this project and at Public Comments, Rational Taxpayer members and its supporters spoke up to challenge the original amount of the bond issue which resulted in a $2 million reduction.

Areas that we remain concerned about include:

each article should stand on its own merits and not be a scheme devised by the Board of Selectmen to mislead the voters

Selectmen need to have a discussion and make a decision as to how they are going to respond to the voters desire to be part of the approval cycle for non-union wage increases that was reflected in the vote

Election News

Below you will find easy link references on candidates that took place in this final week of campaigning.

• Hampton Union published Friday 3/9/2018 provides review of debate and candidate questionnaire responses. Read the full edition.
• Video of PTA Candidates Night - full hour, individual video snippets on each selectmen candidate:
  • Jones
  • Provencal
  • Waddell
  • Woolsey
• Video of  PTA Candidates Night - other Town office candidates:
  • Pineo
  • Kravitz
  • Plouffe
  • Warburton
  • Andrew
• Video of Selectmen Candidates Debate - full hour, individual video snippets by question:
  • Legal Action
  • Drinking Water
  • Flooding
  • Warrant Articles of note
  • Taxes
  • Sewer Funding
  • Noise ordinance
  • Conflict of Interest
  • Commercial Trash
  • Article 44
  • Keno
  • Accomplishments
  • Closing Statements:
    • Provencal
    • Waddell
    • Woolsey
    • Jones

You may also wish to see the complete list of candidates running for Town Offices, including Rational Taxpayers' recommendations

With this new understanding, I now fully support the teamsters contract and recommend the voters approve Article 10.

Why do some businesses get their trash picked up daily, some less frequently, while other businesses do not have their trash or recycling picked up at all by the Town remains a head scratcher. Town officials should have some understanding of this. I call on the Selectmen to

The “don’t rock the boat” strategy (we will work it out over time) is a failed strategy! This suggested strategy smacks of politics and passivism

Our recommendation was to modify the Franchise Fees in the Comcast agreement to reduce them from 4% to 2%, which in effect gives the cable subscribers, who also happen to be taxpayers, a reduction to their monthly cable fee charges. While there is great appreciation for the dedicated Cable Committee staff, there needs to be more leadership and direction. As the money accumulates it will ultimately be squandered on ...