Council looks into school oversight

By CHRIS FROST
Eagle Times News Editor
CLAREMONT, NH — State Rep. and former Ward III Councilor Jonathan Stone is urging the city council to see if it can influence the SAU 6 school budget to encourage the district to be more cognizant of Claremont’s taxpayers.

“The largest expense of the housing [property tax] is the school portion, and it’s an elephant in the room,” said Stone during Wednesday’s council meeting.

“That needs to be addressed, and as you all know, the number of students in Claremont has been decreasing while costs continue to rise,” he said.

Assistant Mayor Deb Matteau thinks the council should pursue Stone’s proposal.

“I don’t know what that entails, but I want to start looking at the process,” Matteau said. “That’s a big part of the burden on the taxpayers, and I think we need to look at that as an avenue of what we might want to do in the future.”

Councilor Bill Limoges echoed Matteau’s comments.

“We need to look at that and re-evaluate some things,” he said.

City Manager Yoshi Manale said he’d speak with the city’s legal counsel and figure out the appropriate process.

“It’s a charter change and the charter change, but I want to make sure we do it correctly,” said Manale. “There are cities that have some control, but they handle it slightly differently.”