Next week, residents in most New Hampshire towns will take part in town meeting season. They will vote on budgets and items as specific as a new contract for back hoe services. All told, their decisions will affect some four and half billion dollars worth of spending statewide.
In a joint effort with New Hampshire’s Local Government Center, NHPR invited every town to submit just a few highlights of items on the warrant and we put that information into an interactive map on our web site. Executive Editor Jon Greenberg has been looking at what’s come in so far and joins us now.
X: Jon, how many towns are on the map?
J: So far, I believe the number is 88 which isn’t too bad. Getting close to the half way mark in terms of the total number of towns. The invitation was sent to every place that does town meeting in one form or another. There’s no deadline so more are sending us their stuff every day.
X: And as you scan through the towns, what are you seeing?
J: It’s interesting. Obviously bread and butter items dominate. Bridge and road repairs are big, and there are a lot of special requests for the police and fire departments, usually to pay for new cruisers or fire trucks.
X: Anything unusual stand out?
?
J: I was surprised at the number of towns that have property tax exemptions for alternative energy on the warrant. I found six places that in one way or another are proposing that if someone invests in solar energy for their home and the assessment goes up as a result, that increase won’t make their tax bill go up.
I saw this show up in New Boston, Enfield, Lyme, Stratham, Warner and Hinsdale. And that’s almost certainly not a full count. But it goes to show the interest that energy policy has for people right now. Some of these proposals apply just to solar power, some take a broader approach and include wind and wood power.
Another interesting item is the Fair Tax. That’s the resolution asking people running for elected office NOT to take the famous pledge – no sales tax, no income tax, no new broad base tax of any sort. It essentially says that the property tax isn’t fair and the state should find a better way to raise money. Obviously, this isn’t popular among people who hate the idea of an income tax.
X: How many towns on the map are considering the Fair Tax?
J: I counted 16 but I know that many more are dealing with this. Some towns just haven’t sent in their information.
X: Anything else?
J: A few towns want to make sizeable investments in their local libraries and then there’s maybe the two most unusual items. Twin Mountain wants to change their zoning to include what they call a dark sky lighting ordinance – to make sure the view of the Milky Way is as brilliant as ever. And in Hillsborough they want to spend $29,500 to rebuild the four faces of the town clock.
X: These things can get very detailed, can’t they.
J: Yes, they can.
X: The NHPR web site has a place for residents to post their opinions on warrant articles. How does that work?
J: They click on their town on the map and they end up on a page that is just for their town. They can see some highlights and they can post a comment. I think the town managers are hoping that this will make it easier for more people to get involved.
Jon, thank you very much.
Please remember...
The Local Government Center is in reality, the New Hampshire Municipal Association -- a lobby if you will, of government workers, but not an actual official government organization in and of itself, as it might sound.
As for this:
"Another interesting item is the Fair Tax. That’s the resolution asking people running for elected office NOT to take the famous pledge – no sales tax, no income tax, no new broad base tax of any sort. It essentially says that the property tax isn’t fair and the state should find a better way to raise money. Obviously, this isn’t popular among people who hate the idea of an income tax."
I'm sure the NHMA would love to push for an income or sales tax...
I have no sense of the position of the NHMA or whether it even has a position. I would point out that the only content on this Town Meeting site comes directly from the public process in participating towns, almost 100 at this writing, and as such represents the views of the people in those towns. The Fair Tax resolution to which you object has been put on the warrant in certain towns but the voting has yet to happen. Thus, at best it seems premature to suggest that providing a public space to share information from such a broad public arena is somehow designed by one group to sway opinion one way or the other.