MANCHESTER, NH – Another Aldermanic budget proposal looks like it will be discussed at the June 2nd Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting.
First reported on Friday on Girard at Large, Ward 6 Alderman Crissy Kantor and Ward 8 Alderman Ed Sapienza are expected to propose a Fiscal Year 2027 budget for the City of Manchester. If this proposal is officially presented on June 2, it would be the second this year from the members of the board, after the proposal from Alderman At-Large June Trisciani and Ward 9 Alderman Jim Burkush that was tabled for further deliberation at the May 19th meeting.
Starting from the mayor’s proposed budget, the Kantor/Sapienza proposal adds $1.5 million to health insurance for city employees, $425,000 to casualty and liability insurance, $400,000 in overlay buffer funds and cuts $999,838 from Manchester Transportation Authority subsidies. A total of $545,000 from the $999,838 cut would be put in contingency funds toward usage within ongoing collective bargaining deliberations with the city’s two police unions.
The proposal would remove police community coordinator and homeless initiatives director positions originally and temporarily funded through American Rescue Plan Act funds, removing $107,932.
“It’s very similar to the mayor’s budget,” said Sapienza, who in April sought to suspend the board’s rules so an immediate vote accepting the mayor’s proposed city and school district budgets could be made. Sapienza then voted for the mayor’s budgets in early May.
Ward 1 Alderman Bryce Kaw-uh had a different perspective.
““The Sapienza-Kantor budget will close the West Side Library, cut public transit, leave the road repair budget half unfunded, and also fail to fully fund the new police contracts. Suffice to say, it’s a complete non-starter for anyone interested in good governance,” he said.
In the Trisciani/Burkush proposal, the additions are made to the mayor’s budget that can be seen in the pictures below.
Both proposals utilize funding from the city’s revenue stabilization reserve account, also known as the “rainy day” fund, to be put toward tax relief.
Additionally, the Trisciani/Burkush proposal utilizes a higher assessed property valuation than the figure offered in the mayor’s initial budget, drawing on projected values from the upcoming property revaluation to be completed later this year.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s June 2 meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers at Manchester City Hall. That is the last regularly scheduled meeting prior to the deadline for budgets mentioned within the City Charter (second Tuesday in June, which is June 9th this year) unless the mayor vetoes the budget as he did in 2024.
The 2027 Fiscal Year for the city and school district begin on July 1.