There’s a town meeting truism that the smallest items can generate the most discussion. That proved accurate Tuesday in Henniker, where almost all the debate concerned summer concerts that would cost 1/10th of 1 percent of the operating budget.

By the time the 90-minute discussion was finished, it had covered topics as varied as the importance of community, the value of events for downtown businesses as well as the proper role of government. And it prompted the board to confirm that $7,195 of taxpayer money will be available to support the concerts at the town bandstand in 2023, with the remaining $5,000 or so coming from donations and a private trust.

Almost no public discussion took place concerning the rest of the $6.29 million operating budget, an increase of about 3.8%, or $1.3 million in money going into various capital reserve funds to help pay for future big-ticket items.

The only exception to the lack of discussion concerned spending for a town athletic budget, which the volunteer committee that oversees youth sports in town trimmed by $7,500 to $32,645 following some questions about continued taxpayer support.

The town operates under a traditional town meeting format. If the budget and all warrants pass at Town Meeting March 15, it is estimated that the town tax rate will rise 10.9% from $6.93 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to $7.58, adding about $235 to the annual tax bill of a $350,000 home.

The discussion about the summer concerts was triggered by a previous select board vote to use more money from a private concert-related trust, although there was some confusion about what exactly that vote had encompassed.

Ruth Zax, chair of the Concert Committee, told the board that if the trust gets depleted “we will have no money to begin planning for 2024 …. We don’t know if we can move forward.”

Zax was among a dozen speakers who urged funding for the concerts, many of whom used the word “community” in their comments. “Coming out of COVID, how valuable it seems to the health and wellbeing of our community to gather together,” she said. 

Some 50 people out of a crowd of about 75 stood up when asked whether they were in favor of continued support.

Among the supporters was Jennifer Lopez, co-owner of SuperScoops, who said the Tuesday concerts boosted her business. “It’s our best day … on a day we did not even intend to be open.” That argument helped spur the town Chamber of Commerce to support the concert funding.

The select board eventually voted 4-1 to fund the concerts.  Selectman Bill Marko was the only dissenting vote.

He said his opposition was spurred not by opposition to the concerts but the idea of taxpayers supporting it.

“Entertainment is not a function of government,” Marko said. He argued that many in town, struggling to make ends meet, agreed with him but hadn’t shown up to the budget hearing out of concern about “intimidation” from supporters of the concerts.

“Lots of people attend (the concerts) … but there’s 5,500 other people who don’t go to it. They would rather see their money go somewhere else,” he said.

Select board chairman Kris Blomback said he also felt that entertainment wasn’t part of government’s role but was swayed by the crowd to support the concert funding. He cautioned the concert committee that the debate is an indication that taxpayer support might not continue: “Times might be changing down the road,” he said.

Henniker School District

Earlier in the week, voters made no changes during a brisk deliberative session for the Henniker School District.

The school district operates under SB2 rules, which means voters will decide all warrant articles by ballot on election day, March 14, including whether to approve a school budget that would raise the tax rate by about 4%.

They will also be asked to expand the preschool program to pre-pandemic levels in a separate warrant article that asks for $150,000, although that amount may be reduced due to other sources of income.

The proposed operating budget is $9.63 million, which is a 3.4% increase. It is estimated that this would raise the local school property tax from $8.10 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to $8.39, adding $101 to the annual tax bill of a house valued at $350,000. If the budget is rejected, a default budget of $9.51 million would go into effect.

One cost increase is $13,812 for the expansion of the middle school athletics program. Henniker fielded its first middle school girls' soccer team this year and hopes to add a boys' soccer team next year.

Henniker Community School serves kindergarten through grade 8. Older students attend John Stark High School, shared with the town of Weare.

Polls will be open at Henniker Community School, 51 Western Ave., from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14.

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