Hope officials look for agreement on income tax spending

Hope officials will be trying to figure out how best to distribute money the town receives from income taxes.

Each year, the town has set aside about $60,000 from income tax revenues to promote economic development, by helping local not for profit groups and  organizers of community events. Recommendations on how those fund should be spent have been made by a mostly volunteer board. After the board reached a consensus, the final decision was left up to the Town Council.

But for months, Town Council members have been questioning how that money is being allocated to promote the town, who should serve on the board, how big the board should be and if it should even exist at all. Council member Nellie Meek and town attorney Scott Andrews said last week that they couldn’t find another town with a similar arrangement.

All of the remaining volunteer board members have recently quit, citing concerns over what the council actually wants done with the money.

The council will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow to discuss the issue.