Town clerk seeks election‑year stipends; supervisors to move from stipend to $15/hour

Town Clerk Corinne presented the clerk’s budget to the Hooksett Budget Committee on Nov. 3 and said the office’s costs are driven primarily by elections.

"A majority of what I put into here ... is all pertaining to elections," Corinne said, explaining that she is requesting a $5,000 stipend for federal election years for both the clerk and the deputy to reflect extra work.

Supervisors of the checklist asked the committee to support changing compensation from a flat stipend to hourly pay. Mike Horn, a supervisor, said moving to hourly pay reflects extensive post‑election processing and training and could help retain supervisors. "Sometimes we're up over 15... we kinda took a middle number and said, you know, 15," Horn said, describing comparisons with other towns.

On equipment, Corinne confirmed the town purchased new ImageCast tabulators and budgeted maintenance. Committee discussion clarified that the town has three machines, drop‑box costs of $350 per machine, and a one‑year warranty that ends on 06/02/2026. Corinne said maintenance estimates were based on vendor guidance and that the first town use of the machines will be the March town/school elections.

Budget context: the clerk said she limited requests to what is necessary for elections and volunteers, and committee members asked that maintenance and warranty items be assigned to the appropriate line (electrical/equipment maintenance). Corinne said election equipment maintenance was included under the electrical equipment line in the budget documents.

What’s next: Committee members indicated support for clarifying the stipend/hourly approach and for staff to refine the election maintenance and equipment line‑items before final budget adoption.