Town Budget Cap
Towns may adopt a town budget cap to help impede tax increases.
Petition Process
- Towns
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The minimum number of signatures needed is “25 or more registered voters or 2 percent of the registered voters in town, whichever is less, although in no event shall fewer than 10 registered voters be sufficient”.
RSA 39:3
Article Structure
RSA 32:5-h“Shall we adopt the provisions of RSA 32:5-g, and implement a budget cap whereby the select board (or budget committee) shall not submit a recommended budget that is higher than _____ dollars per resident expenditure times the current town population plus a _____ percent annual increase for inflation. Requires a 3/5ths majority of the town.”
RSA 32:5-h“Shall we adopt the provisions of RSA 32:5-g, and implement a budget cap whereby the select board (or budget committee) shall not submit a recommended budget that is higher than _____ dollars per resident expenditure times the current town population plus an annual increase for inflation using (the index) published by (the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics or American City and County) as of October 1. Requires a 3/5ths majority of the town.”
Examples
Shall we adopt the provisions of RSA 32:5-g, and implement a budget cap whereby the select board (or budget committee) shall not submit a recommended budget that is higher than 1,200 dollars per resident expenditure times the current town population plus a 3 percent annual increase for inflation. Requires a 3/5ths majority of the town.
Shall we adopt the provisions of RSA 32:5-g, and implement a budget cap whereby the select board (or budget committee) shall not submit a recommended budget that is higher than 1,200 dollars per resident expenditure times the current town population plus an annual increase for inflation using CPI-U for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH area published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics as of October 1. Requires a 3/5ths majority of the town.