BY ROD HANSEN
Goffstown selectmen and budget committee members remain at odds over one major article on the town warrant only weeks away from Town Meeting. While a $16.8 million operating budget appeared as one of 32 items on the budget, a $2 million road improvement plan proved the most contentious.
Road improvements spark debate
The road improvement article, which has been part of the town’s capital improvement program since 2002, failed to garner budget committee approval this year due to disputes over a $600,000 drainage project. That project would affect Rosemont Avenue and is also a special article on this year’s warrant.
Budget committee members voted not to recommend the road plan due to concerns over the Rosemont project, said John Caprio, selectmen’s budget committee representative.
Budget committee members would recommend the road plan if the Rosemont Avenue project’s $600,000 were added back into the town’s operating budget, Caprio said.
Selectmen voted to recommend the $2 million road improvement plan 4-1, with Selectman Nick Campasano opposed.
The following article sought to include the road plan appropriation as part of the operating budget and default budgets in future years. Campasano spoke against this article as well, saying the required dollar value might change over time.
“I don’t think you can hold to that position year after year and say we’re going to budget $2 million for the road improvement program,” Campasano said. “I think we need to look at it based on current events.”
Selectmen ultimately voted to include the road plan in future operating budgets 3-1-1, with Campasano opposed and Caprio abstaining because he said selectmen should not vote on articles with no specific appropriation.
Elderly tax exemption
Selectmen split on a proposed elderly tax exemption, though the topic had come before the board several times over the past couple of months.
Under the proposal of the plan appearing on the draft warrant, residents between 65 and 75 years old would have a $45,000 exemption on their property taxes, while residents 75 to 80 would have a $60,000 exemption and residents 80 and older would be entitled to an $80,000 exemption.
Selectman Barbara Griffin said she would vote against the proposal, because she had not seen definitive numbers on how the exemptions would affect tax revenue.
“This has been a speculative exercise at best,” Griffin said, noting that the town planner had estimated the exemptions would cause a $1 million tax impact, while the citizen’s committee driving the proposal put that number between $300,000 to $400,000.
The article garnered selectmen’s approval with a vote of 2-1-2, with Griffin voting against and Caprio and Bruce Hunter recusing themselves.
Board members also voted to approve $295,438 for the purpose of hiring 10 full-time firefighters for six months, beginning July 1. The positions will supplement current staff coverage and provide around-the-clock service at one station with a minimum of five firefighters per shift.
The annualized cost of hiring 10 full-time firefighters amounts to $557,335, according to the article.
TIF district dissected
Three articles on the draft warrant address a proposal to adopt a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District on Mast Road.
A TIF district would act as a sort of reserve fund for taxes generated by new development within the confines of that district, planner Griffin said at a public hearing on the subject that night.
The district would be located in the commercial-industrialized flex zone for the purpose of creating about 1,500 feet of road. The construction would take place where no development is proposed under the transmission lines between Tatro Drive and Greer Road, Griffin said.
The proposal drew mostly negative responses from the approximately one dozen residents who attended the public hearing.
“Selectmen in their platform have said they want to maintain taxes and not give our tax money away. If someone wants to develop a piece of land, let them develop it. But it shouldn’t be up to taxpayers to subsidize development,” said resident Vivian Blondeau.
Selectmen took no position on the TIF-related articles, all of which will read “Presented by the Board of Selectmen upon recommendation of the Planning Board” on the warrant.
Lynchville/Danis Park water improvements
Selectmen voted in favor of recommending a warrant article to provide water distribution to Lynchville/Danis Park, though some confusion remains on the overall approach to the project.
The article calls for $2.5 million in funding for the project to improve the Pinardville neighborhood. Of the overall appropriation, $1.6 million will be financed through bonds paid for through user fees, while the remainder will come from grants and interest. The current project would only address the neighborhood’s water system, though sewer, road and drainage improvements have also been called for.
During an earlier bond hearing on the subject, Director of Public Works Carl Quiram had recommended waiting to begin the project until a sewer article appeared on the 2008 warrant.
Selectmen voted to approve the water improvement article by a margin of 4-1, with Chairman Griffin voting against because she said she believed the article would hinge on future sewer improvements.
Voting
Residents can debate and amend the town warrant at the deliberative session of Town Meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Craig Heiber Auditorium at Goffstown High School.
Voting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 13.