MANCHESTER, NH – The City of Manchester and the Manchester School District Fiscal Year 2027 budgets will see two key moments coming up as the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen prepare to make deliberations on those budgets later this spring.
On Wednesday, March 25, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen will join the Board of School Committee in a joint meeting at Manchester Memorial High School to discuss the FY’ 27 school district budget.
The Board of School Committee has passed along three potential budgets for review by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, two of which hold amounts above the city’s tax cap amount: a “baseline” budget to maintain current services after the loss of one-time funding and a “fully-funded” budget which district officials say provide the resources needed for future progress. The baseline budget amount is $251,405,787. The fully-funded budget amount is $265,290,706. The other tax-cap compliant budget, which is required to be submitted to the Aldermen, is $235,507,700.
To pass a school or city budget above the tax cap limit requires support from two-thirds of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, which is at least 10 votes when all aldermen are present.
Manchester School District Superintendent Jenn Chmiel has said if an amount below the baseline amount is approved, the district may need to cut staff.
The joint meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Information in the meeting packet can be found in a .pdf file below (available as of March 20, 2026).
Thursday’s special meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen will also begin at 6 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers at City Hall.
In the meeting, Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais will present his budgets for the city and schools, as required under the city charter. The city charter also requires Ruais to submit a budget to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen at or below the city’s tax cap limit.
More information on budgets from previous years can be found here.