The following are the warrant articles that the Andover Town Meeting 2013 will vote on. Background information is provided, where appropriate, in square brackets [].
Voting for the election of officials will be open on Tuesday, March 12, from 11 AM to 7 PM at the Andover Elementary/Middle School gym. As soon as the polls close, Town Meeting will begin to consider the following warrant articles.
Article 1: To choose all necessary Town Officers for the ensuing year. (By ballot)
[This happens by ballot voting from 11 AM to 7 PM on Tuesday, March 12, in the AE/MS gym.]
Article 2: To see if the Town will vote to authorize indefinitely, or until rescinded, the Selectmen to accept the provision of RSA 33:7, to issue tax anticipation notes. (This is a housekeeping article only.) (Majority vote required.)
[Because New Hampshire is not a “Home Rule” state, the town must periodically cite specific New Hampshire laws as the source of the town’s authority for the way it does business. That’s what this year’s “housekeeping” warrant articles (Articles 2 through 5) accomplish.]
Article 3: To see if the Town will vote to accept the provision of RSA 31:95-b providing that any town at an annual meeting may adopt an article authorizing indefinitely, until specific rescission of such authority, the Selectmen to apply for, accept and expend, without further action by the Town Meeting, unanticipated money from a State, Federal, or other Governmental unit or a private source which becomes available during the fiscal year. (This is a housekeeping article only.) (Majority vote required.)
Article 4: To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to accept gifts of personal property which may be offered to the Town for any public purpose, pursuant to RSA 31:95-e. The Selectmen must hold a Public Hearing before accepting such gift(s), and the acceptance shall not bind the Town to raise, appropriate, or expend any public funds for the operation, maintenance, repair, or replacement of any such personal property. (This is a housekeeping article only.) (Majority vote required.)
Article 5: To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Tax Collector to accept prepayment of taxes pursuant to RSA 80:52-a. (This is a housekeeping article only.) (Majority vote required.)
Article 6: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of One Million Three Hundred Nine Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-six Dollars ($1,309,936) which represents the operating budget. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[This is the usual “approve the budget” warrant article. The amount mentioned in this article does not include any of the amounts mentioned in any of the other warrant articles. The amounts of all the warrant articles that pass (including this one) get added together to determine the final 2013 Town budget.]
[See 2013 Budgets Set For Annual Meetings and the complete Town budget on page 14 of the Andover Town Report 2012 for details.]
Article 7: To see if the Town will vote to expand the purpose of the existing Bridge Rehabilitation Capital Reserve Fund to include funds for Town Bridge Improvement Projects and State Bridge Aid Improvement Projects, and to appoint the Selectmen as Agents to Expend. (This requires a 2/3 vote.)
[This article expands the purposes for which money in the fund can be used and lets the Board of Selectmen use money for the fund’s purposes without further action by Town Meeting. See What You Need to Know About the Warrant Articles for more details.]
Article 8: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate $25,000 to add to the Bridge Rehabilitation Capital Reserve Fund. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[The Bridge Rehabilitation Capital Reserve Fund is intended primarily for rehabilitating a Town bridge every five years or so (though that intent may be modified this year by Article 7, above). This article adds to the fund. The December 31, 2012 balance in this Capital Reserve Fund was $154,159.]
Article 9: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000) for the completion of road improvement projects with $50,000 to come from the previously established Highway Projects Capital Reserve Fund established in 2012. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[The “raise and appropriate” language in this article is a legal requirement. As the article notes, $50,000 of the $150,000 has already been raised in last year’s budget. The article proposes to withdraw that $50,000 from the Highway Projects fund (December 31, 2012 balance: $50,000) and raise the remaining $100,000 through this year’s budget.]
Article 10: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $13,440 to fund the third year of the town-wide revaluation. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[In prior years, the strategy has been to set aside a sum in the Revaluation Capitol Reserve Fund (see Article 11, below) in one warrant article, and then in a second warrant article to withdraw from the Revaluation Capitol Reserve Fund whatever sum is needed for the coming year’s revaluation work.]
[The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration doesn’t like that approach, so this year’s warrant articles raise the year’s revaluation requirements from taxes in Article 10 and deposits just the net of the “annual set-aside” amount minus the “needed this year” amount to the Revaluation Capitol Reserve Fund in Article 11.]
Article 11: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $5,110 to add to the Revaluation Capital Reserve Fund previously established. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[The Town Revaluation Capital Reserve Fund is intended to spread over five years the impact of the approximately $155,000 the Town must, by law, spend every five years on property valuation updates and revaluation. The December 31, 2012 balance in this Capital Reserve Fund was $37,128.]
Article 12: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $10,000 to add to the Highway Equipment Capital Reserve Fund, previously established. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[The Highway Equipment Capital Reserve Fund is intended primarily for replacing the Town’s road grader in about 15 years. The December 31, 2012 balance in this Capital Reserve Fund is $68,221.]
Article 13: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $10,000 to add to the Transfer Station Capital Reserve Fund. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[The Transfer Station Capital Reserve Fund saves towards eventual equipment repair or replacement or necessary improvements to the Transfer Station. The December 31, 2012 balance in this Capital Reserve Fund was $50,290.]
Article 14: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $25,000 for the purpose of the purchase of a new police cruiser, with $18,000 to come from the previously established Police Cruiser Capital Reserve Fund. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[The “raise and appropriate” language in this article is a legal requirement. As the article notes, $18,000 of the $25,000 has already been raised in prior years’ budgets. The article proposes to withdraw that $18,000 from the Police Cruiser fund (December 31, 2012 balance: $18,009) and raise the remaining $7,000 through this year’s budget.]
Article 15: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate $25,000 to add to the Ambulance Capital Reserve Fund, previously established. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[The Ambulance Capital Reserve Fund saves toward replacing the Andover Emergency Medical Service’s $175,000 ambulance every 12 to 14 years, next due probably in 2016. The December 31, 2012 balance in this Capital Reserve Fund was $25,000.]
Article 16: To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000) for the purpose of repairing damaged stones, grass seeding, and the completion of the survey work at the East Andover Cemetery and to repair two water line leaks in Proctor Cemetery. This will be a special non-lapsing appropriation per RSA 32.7, VI and will not lapse until the work is completed or December 31, 2018, whichever is sooner. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[The “non-lapsing” language in this article is special legal language required to appropriate money for a project that may not be completed by the end of the year.]
Article 17: To see if the Town will vote to establish a Recreation Revolving Fund pursuant to RSA 35-B:2 II. The money received from fees and charges for recreation programs and park services and facilities shall be allowed to accumulate from year to year, and shall not be considered to be part of the general fund unreserved fund balance. The treasurer shall have custody of all monies in the fund, and shall pay out the same only upon order of the Selectmen and the Recreation Director. These funds may be expended only for recreation purposes.
[Unlike Capital Reserve funds, which get their revenue primarily from taxes, Revolving Funds can get their revenue from fees and other ordinary revenue paid to the Town. This article would establish a Revolving Fund for the Recreation Committee; earmark fees the Committee charges as belonging to the fund; and allow that money to be spent for recreation purposes without further action by Town Meeting.]
Article 18: To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Recreation Committee to expend $15,400 from the previously established Blackwater Park Fund for the purpose of completing the building at the Blackwater Park. (This article is recommended by the Board of Selectmen and by the Budget Committee.)
[The December 31, 2012 balance of the fund was $15,979.]
Article 19: To see if the Town will vote to designate the Selectmen as Agents to Expend from the Cilleyville Bog Bridge Fund, and further, to allow the Selectmen to expend funds for the purpose of maintenance and repair of the bridge without further action from Town Meeting.
[The December 31, 2012 balance of the fund was $7,216.]
Article 20: To see if the Town will vote to adopt the provisions of RSA 72:61 through 72:68, which provide for an optional property tax exemption from the property’s assessed value for property tax purposes, for persons owning real property which is equipped with one or more solar energy systems and/or wind energy systems intended for use at the immediate site. Such property tax exemption shall be in the amount equal to 100% of the assessed value of qualifying equipment under these statutes.
[See What You Need to Know About the Warrant Articles for more details.]
Article 21: To see if the Town will vote to modify the elderly exemptions from property tax in the Town of Andover, based on assessed value, for qualified taxpayers, to be as follows: for a person 65 to 74 years of age, $40,000; for a person 75 to 79 years of age, $60,000; for a person 80 years of age or older, $70,000. To qualify, the person must have been a New Hampshire resident for at least 3 years, own the real estate individually or jointly, or if the real estate is owned by such person’s spouse, they must have been married for at least 5 years. In addition, the taxpayer must have a net income of no more than $30,000 if single, or if married, a combined income of no more than $40,000, and own net assets not in excess of $75,000, excluding the value of the person’s residence. The combined net asset amount for married persons shall apply to a surviving spouse until the sale or transfer of the property by the surviving spouse or until the remarriage of the surviving spouse.
[See What You Need to Know About the Warrant Articles for more details.]
Article 22: To transact any other business that may legally come before this meeting.
[See Highway Maintenance Committee for information about some business that is planned to be brought before the meeting at this point.]