North Hampton Budget Committee backs new $9.3M safety complex; $1.5M renovation of old library for town offices
NORTH HAMPTON — Budget Committee members voted unanimously to recommend two warrant articles totaling $11 million, one to construct a new public safety complex and another to transform the old library into town offices.
The committee held a public hearing Tuesday on the town and school budgets, and warrant articles that will go before voters at the March 8 Town Meeting.
The town is seeking a $9,307,965 bond to build the 26,000-square-foot public safety building, along with $232,699 to be raised from taxes for the first year’s interest payment on the bond. Bond questions require at least 60 percent voter approval.
The town is also asking for $1,549,912 to renovate and add a 4,000-square-foot addition to the 5,400-square-foot former library to transform it into administrative offices and storage space. This question needs a simple majority to pass because no money is to be raised from taxes. Instead, $930,274 will come from the town’s unassigned fund balance (its reserves), $150,000 from the Town Building Capital Reserve Fund and the remaining $469,638 from the American Rescue Plan Act Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, money allotted to North Hampton from the federal government’s COVID-19 related legislation.
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The unanimous 9 to 0 votes on both warrant articles did not come easily, taking two motions to reconsider. Initially, the public safety building $9.5 million question received seven votes in favor with members Frank Ferraro and Brian Goode voting against. Both indicated the size and the cost of the building led them to vote no.
But after some haggling and persuasion from Selectman James Sununu, both changed their votes and approved it. Sununu said the town is in critical need of a new safety building, especially given the poor condition of the fire station. In years past, voters rejected a safety building when the cost was $6 million, he said. Waiting another year will only raise the cost, he said, as construction and interest rates are expected to rise.
Similarly, the first vote on the $1.5 million renovation plan for the former library drew a no vote from Goode, who thought the 4,000-square-foot addition was larger than needed. He again changed his mind and voted in favor when the question was reconsidered.
During the discussion on the rehab on the former library, Ferraro questioned Town Administrator Mike Tully on the use of American Rescue Plan Act monies. Ferraro said his reading of the guidelines indicate ARPA funds can’t be spent on capital expenses.
Tully said that may be true on outright capital expenses, but there is work within the renovation that he believes can be paid from with the ARPA funds.
With such a hefty price tag, and the need for a super-majority to pass the bond question, member Sean Dionne, felt that town officials needed to increase the information available to voters in order to get the project approved at the polls. Included in that information, he said, should be the impact the public safety building has on the tax rate.
“People will see the cost, but they don’t know how that translates into their taxes,” Dionne said.
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Tully said the town won’t know the interest rate on the 30-year bond on $9.3 million until later, but he estimates it will be from 35 cents to 40 cents per thousand on the assessed property value.
“That should be about $195 for the average $500,000 house,” he said.
Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stanton added that his “rule of thumb” is that for every $10,000 spent, the financial impact on the tax rate is about 1cent per $1,000 of assessed property value.
“People can calculate using that,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: North Hampton NH Budget Committee backs new $9.3M safety complex
