By Dale Girard
MAYOR OF CLAREMONT
City Manager Yoshi Manale presented the 2024 budget to the city council at the end of April. This process is outlined in city ordinances, which allows two months to review individual budgets and pass the overall budget. If the council fails to pass the budget by June 30, the proposed budget will go into effect with no changes.
This year, the proposed budget projects a 3% increase to the city portion of the taxes paid by property owners. Taxpayers pay separate rates for local schools, the county and the statewide property tax for education.
May was a very busy time for the Council, which conducted its regular meetings in addition to an all-day Saturday budget hearing. Each department presented its budget, allowing the council to ask questions about changes and projections.
Following review, we voted to tentatively approve each budget.
City Manager Manale recently negotiated four union contracts, which are included in the budget. The new contracts will assist the City’s efforts to retain employees. We are fortunate to have a very dedicated group of city employees working throughout the City and appreciate their efforts.
Over the past few years, we’ve used “Fund Balance” to offset the tax rate. Fund Balance is made up of unspent money or revenues in excess of the projection from the prior fiscal year. This is not sustainable. If Fund Balance falls below projections, these funds will be unavailable in future years. This would cause additional cuts to the budget or a large increase in property taxes. This year we have the ability to use Fund Balance but we will be addressing one-time projects to fix infrastructure needs in our buildings.
Councilors asked many questions of the department heads. During the hearing process there were several changes suggested by both the administration and Council. Due to these changes, budgets were moved to future hearings to allow for information to be updated.
One of the budgets moved to early June was the Community Center. Over the past several years the Center continued to see a decrease in memberships. This caused revenues to drop below annual projections. The Council requested changes to move the Community Center in line with expectations, recognizing it is vital to our growth as a community. Director Lawrence worked with Richard Synnott from Active Entities Consulting.
Mr. Synnott presented his final report on May 24. This report recommended increased membership and building usage fees. Residents have also suggested changes to pool activities, programming and hours. These changes will need to be implemented over time. The Council requested City Manager Manale and Director Lawrence to bring back a report within 60 days.
After the report presentation, the Council reviewed community center revenue projections and suggested they be lowered based upon historical figures.
The budget process will continue June 14 with the final budget hearing on June 28. Please take the time to join us at these meetings. Reach out to the Council with any thoughts. We appreciate the input of our community.
Dale Girard is the Mayor of Claremont, NH
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