By CHARLENE LOVETT
By Charlene Lovett
For families with school-aged children, the month of June marks the end of classes and the beginning of summer. For the State of New Hampshire, Sullivan County and Claremont, June signals the end of the budgetary process. If all goes well, the adopted budget reflects compromise, addressing agreed upon priorities within an accepted funding framework.
On June 12, Senate Majority Leader Dan Feltes and our state senator, Martha Hennessey, traveled to Claremont to hold a press conference with me in front of city hall. During the press conference the senators highlighted areas of the Senate’s proposed budget and the impact that it would have on Claremont. It contained provisions that would provide Claremont with additional funding for infrastructure improvements and education, and resources for the prevention of childhood lead poisoning.
Should the Senate’s budget remain unchanged, Claremont would receive an additional $333,485.38 of unrestricted municipal aid in each year of the upcoming biennium (FY20 and FY21). The city could use this money to address infrastructure needs that have been deferred for many years. In terms of education funding, the Senate’s budget includes an additional $1,209,622 and $2,439,422 for FY20 and FY21 respectively. The budget also includes $3 million to help homeowners and landlords address lead in homes, and staffing at the Department of Health and Human Services to support universal blood lead level screening and prevention efforts.
It is not by chance that the Senate’s budget includes increased infrastructure and education funding, and resources to address childhood lead poisoning. Claremont residents have joined the voices of many others throughout New Hampshire advocating for this throughout the budgetary process, and it has worked. The governor, House and Senate have all recognized these areas in their budget. However, the approaches and funding levels differ.
The final stage of the budget process at the Statehouse is about to begin. A Committee of Conference has been established. It will be the work of the legislators assigned to the Committee to find compromise regarding the differences in the proposed House and Senate budgets. The committee must reach agreement by June 20 in order for both the House and Senate to address changes proposed by the Committee of Conference on June 27. Should the legislature agree upon a budget, it will move forward to the governor’s office for signature.
While all of this is occurring in Concord, both Sullivan County and the City of Claremont are also completing their budgets. Because the public hearing for the Sullivan County budget occurred on the same evening as the city council meeting on June 12, members of the council could not attend. However, the executive finance committee will be meeting on June 17 at 1 p.m. at the Ahern Building in Unity. It will be their responsibility to consider public comments in the context of the commissioner’s proposed budget and make a recommendation to the full county delegation on June 28. The commissioners’ proposed budget contains an 8.25% increase, but the county delegation still has the option of making changes to the proposed budget.
Finally, the Claremont City Council is considering some modest changes to the city manager’s proposed budget. In May, interim City Manager John MacLean presented a budget to the council that had no increase to the tax rate. Included in his proposed budget was a list of supplementals requested by department directors. The council, based on its own deliberations and input from the public, will decide whether changes should be made to the proposed budget. On June 19 at 6:30 p.m. the council will meet to determine what the final budget should be. Public hearings will be held during the meeting and there will be ample time for input and discussion.
Public input is critical to any budgetary process. Thank you to all who have traveled to Concord or contacted legislators during the state’s budgetary process. To those who have reached out to county delegates or Claremont city councilors, and attended public hearings, thank you. It requires a significant amount of time and effort, but your voices are being heard.
Charlene Lovett is the Mayor of Claremont and welcomes your feedback. Please email questions, comments or concerns to her at [email protected].
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