As New Hampshire towns look to keep their budgets lean, health and social service agencies may feel the pinch.
Some towns have pulled funding for agencies that assist everyone from senior citizens to those at risk of losing their homes. In other towns, providing that funding will be up to voters at Town Meeting, instead of being included in the operating budget.
In Salem, selectmen and the Budget Committee voted for a budget that removed all funding for outside social service agencies, Budget Committee Chairman Peter Rayno said. In 2008, the town spent $92,540 on outside human services and budgeted $74,750 in 2009, Interim Town Manager Henry LaBranche said.
"It was an economic decision," LaBranche said. "They're the groups that the board thought should feel the pain, if you will."
Rayno said he would support a citizen's petition restoring funding to the groups. "I personally felt that this year, of all years, was not the year to cut that (funding)," he said.
Rockingham Community Action received $22,390 from Salem in 2008, according to the 2008 town report.
"It has a big impact, because we rely on town funding for some of the services we supply," Executive Administrator Greg Schneider said.
The organization has a strong presence in Salem, with a Community Action center there, he said.
"What that said to me was, that's how bad a shape, financially, some towns are in," Schneider said.
Suzanne Coombs, finance manager for A Safe Place, which assists victims of domestic violence, said most towns have provided level funding for the last few years. A few have cut funding completely, but more have required the group to get signatures from registered voters to be placed on the warrant. Sometimes, the amount of money is not worth the time getting signatures can take, she said.
While only about 9 percent of the group's funding comes from towns, she said, the cuts are especially painful in a tight economy.
"There are less contributions because people can afford to give less," she said. "Because of the problem with the economy, our domestic violence numbers go up."
Towns take different approaches
In Hampstead, selectmen cut $5,000 in funding for the Center for Life Management, a mental health organization, and $5,000 in funding for Sad Cafe, a substance-free, family-friendly center in Plaistow. The budget still includes $58,755 for other organizations.
Selectmen cut two or three agencies from the budget each year and put them on the warrant instead, Selectmen's Chairman James Stewart said.
"It gives us a chance to see if the residents still have interest and still hold these organizations in high regard," he said.
In March, Hampstead voters supported articles funding the Great Bay Chapter of the American Red Cross, Lamprey Health Care and the Rockingham County Visiting Nurse Association.
Funding for community service groups appeared on the warrant in Newton at the 2009 Town Meeting. The town voted to fund 12 community service groups with $39,677 in March. But voters also passed an article that allowed voting for program grants individually in 2010.
"A lot of people mentioned to the Board of Selectmen that they were for some of the programs, but not all of them," Selectmen's Chairman Robert Donovan said. "And they don't feel it is right that they have to do it as one lump program."
But in Sandown, just the opposite is happening. Funding for social services is moving back into the operating budget this year. In 2009 each agency was listed on the warrant.
"The people were the ones that spoke and said, 'We don't want these on the warrant. We want them back in the operating budget where they've always been," said Paula Gulla, selectmen's assistant.
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