COORDINATON OR CONSOLIDATION OF POWER IN HAMPTON?

🚨 HAMPTON’S “ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT” PLAN: COORDINATION OR CONSOLIDATION OF POWER?

At the October 5 Hampton Select Board meeting, the Board voted to create an ad hoc Economic Development Committee that will report back to the Select Board mid-November.

On the surface, that might sound like a routine effort to encourage business and economic growth.

But taxpayers should look much deeper.

The proposed committee brings together representatives from multiple existing government and quasi-government bodies:

Hampton Select Board

Hampton Planning Board

Hampton Beach Village District

Hampton Beach Area Commission

Master Plan Implementation Committee

In other words, many of Hampton's existing centers of influence are being brought to the same table to develop an economic-development plan for the town.

And here's the part taxpayers need to understand.

This development closely aligns with the terms and objectives associated with the Housing Opportunity Planning (HOP) grant accepted by the Town of Hampton.

I was the only Select Board member who expressed serious reservations about accepting those grant terms.

At the time, I questioned where these programs could ultimately lead, what obligations they could impose on the town, and whether accepting outside money could influence local policy decisions.

Now we're seeing an economic-development committee emerge that brings together essentially the same network of governmental and quasi-governmental interests.

Coincidence?

That's for Hampton taxpayers to decide.

But don't simply take my word for it.

DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK.

I encourage every Hampton taxpayer to listen to Mitch Vexler and his discussions about the purpose and potential consequences of government economic-development committees and related property-tax systems.

Then compare what you hear with what is happening right here in Hampton.

Ask questions.

Who is driving the economic-development agenda?

Who establishes the priorities?

Who benefits from the policies that eventually come out of these committees?

What obligations come with the grants?

Who is ultimately accountable to the voters?

And perhaps most importantly:

Where does local control end and government-directed economic planning begin?

Because economic development isn't merely about attracting businesses.

It can affect land use, zoning, housing, property values, infrastructure, taxation, development incentives and the future direction of an entire community.

That's why taxpayers should be paying attention before these policies become permanent.

AND THEN THERE'S PROPERTY TAXATION.

This is where I believe the public needs to connect the dots.

Government officials routinely tell property owners that if they don't pay their property taxes, the government can ultimately take their property.

That should cause every property owner to ask a fundamental question:

WHERE DOES GOVERNMENT'S LEGAL AUTHORITY TO DO THAT COME FROM?

That's the question we've been raising in the Hampton property-tax fight.

Not simply:

"Did the town calculate my assessment correctly?"

But:

Was the taxation legally authorized in the first place?

Those are two very different questions.

When government exercises its taxing authority, there must be lawful authority behind that exercise.

And when government uses its enormous power over someone's home or property, taxpayers have every right to demand transparency, statutory compliance and constitutional accountability.

The public should investigate these issues for itself rather than blindly accepting the government's explanation.

🚨 TAXPAYERS: DON'T SLEEP THROUGH THIS.

An ad hoc committee might sound harmless.

A grant might sound like free money.

An economic-development initiative might sound like progress.

But nothing involving government is free.

There are always policies, priorities, conditions, obligations and consequences attached.

And once multiple governmental entities begin coordinating around a common economic-development agenda, taxpayers should be asking exactly what that agenda is—and who wrote it.

Read the grant.

Read the committee's charge.

Watch the Select Board meeting.

Look at the participants.

Listen to the critics.

Remember Hamptons Master Plan has not been approved by the people of Hampton BUT the planning board has incorporated much of it through annual zoning amendments that DO get approved at the town meeting vote.

Because if we don't pay attention until after the policies are implemented, it's too late.

THIS IS YOUR TOWN.

THIS IS YOUR PROPERTY.

THIS IS YOUR TAX MONEY.

And ultimately, government works for the people—not the other way around.

As for the broader political question, voters also have the power to decide which politicians and policies they continue to support—including politicians such as the Sununus, Shaheens, Hassans, and Pappases.

If you don't like the direction government is taking, stop rewarding it at the ballot box.

Research it. Question it. Challenge it. Vote accordingly.

Enough is enough.