City government department heads provide requests following mayor’s proposed budget

Board of Assessors

Board of Assessors’ Chairman Michael Hurley and Residential Assessor Lee Ann Provencher are expected to retire in the near future and Commercial Assessor Charles Kurfehs could be named to take over Hurley’s role. Thus, the Assessors’ Office is seeking $130,000 each for people to fill the Residential and Commercial Assessor roles.

There is an additional request to convert the part-time customer service position into a full-time position, adding $20,000 to that salary.

Given that Hurley advised the Board of Mayor and Aldermen that a full measure and list of all property re-assessments may be soon be required given what occurred recently in Hampton regarding their assessments, getting staff in-place quickly will be necessary if paying for outside contractors is to be avoided.

City Clerk

While the proposed $27,228 reduction in the FY’ 27 budget will not result in reduced staffing levels, City Clerk Matt Normand has stated that efforts to digitize older city records would be stopped and Election Day and City Hall expenses would be reduced. Any citywide special election would also cost $20,300 that would need to be taken out of the budget, unless that special election happens on a day without an already scheduled state primary or election, in which case is would cost approximately $200,000.

Department of Public Works

Bridging the gap between the mayor’s request for paving road funds at $6.5 million and the $12 million recommended for road paving funds was largest request, but not the only request.

A proposal to fill the paving gap with Community Improvement Plan (CIP) funds was joined with other CIP requests for new lights and Youngsville Park and Wolfe Park as well as a retaining wall at Gill Stadium ($50,000); a new driveway at Livingston Park ($50,000); and additional funding for the Fun in the Sun program given its popularity ($20,000).

There is also a request for additional materials to fix potholes, sidewalks, manholes and other emergency infrastructure repairs ($355,833); bringing the department’s budget for road salt back up to FY’ 26 levels given the expectation that anything less would incur a deficit toward winter road maintenance funding ($300,000); and requests to replace retired backhoes ($175,000) and sidewalk tractors used for snow removal ($750,000)

Economic Development

Here there is a request to renew $6,000 in salary reductions and a $30,000 addition in civic contributing funding for VisitMHT, a non-profit organization established earlier this year to promote events and marketing effort that would help local business.

Finance Department

City of Manchester Finance Officer Sharon Wickens is asking for the removal of a $26,455 budget cut to assist with the upcoming replacement of the city’s financial system, which is currently 28 years old. She added without this funding, one position would have to be cut from full-time to part-time.

Fire Department

Without the requested $1.3 million increase requested by the department, Manchester Fire Department Chief Ryan Cashin reports that expected overtime requests would not be able to be filled, the department could not run a new recruit school, mental health benefits for staff would suffer and vacancies would not be able to be filled. Regarding the vacancies, if the department’s number of line members falls below 49, it would violate stipulations of the SAFER Grant won by the city and would require up to $1,000,000 in repayments of the grant. The mayor’s budget address indicated a $160,000 allocation to retain new firefighters brought on board with SAFER Grant funding.

Cashin has asked for an additional $350,000 in addition to the $534,284 increase in the mayor’s proposed budget. Even with this compromise request, Cashin says he would need to make budget reductions for professional development, checks of vacant buildings and night clubs and a data analyst position.

Central Fleet

In a letter from new Central Fleet Director Chris Goodnow, the mayor’s proposed $3,977,495 would effectively eliminate two staff positions, with Goodnow asking for a budget of $4,197,495.

Health Department

In the mayor’s budget, funding would be at risk for…

• A 0.8 Full-Time Equivalent position for a home-visiting nurse for high-risk expectant mothers ($47,625)
• The reduction of a senior specialist at the Cashin Senior Activity Center by 2.5 hours ($2.572)
• Ending special projects at the Cashin Senior Activity Center ($3,650)
• Laying off the PHAST Team and reducing a public health specialist from full-time to part-time ($318,424)
• Potentially laying off a full-time health specialist for overdose prevention and 10 per diem overdose prevention workers ($110,453 if $70,000 in available opioid abatement funds are approved)
• A pair of CIP requests recommended by the city’s Age-Friendly Advisory Committee ($15,000)

Human Resources

The current staff of 10 employees, three of which are part-time, is highly specialized and limited it its implementation of the city’s new human resources information system and the recently completed compensation study as well as preparation needed to assist in the negotiation and ratification of 11 collective bargaining agreements.

A request of four new payroll staff ($258,000), a full-time benefits specialist position ($75,300), a MUNUS specialist ($80,866) and a deputy director ($110,638)

Library

There is a request of $59,090 to retain the 40 currently funded positions and allow the Office of Youth Services to remain in their west side branch until June 30, 2027. The mayor’s proposal funds only 38 positions.

Office of Youth Services

While the position of Youth Services Director is expected not to be filled, Interim Youth Services Director believes that the Youth Services Director and Youth Services Manager roles as well as 11 other positions and a youth counselor can be hired while retaining the proposed 2% budget reduction if the director and manager roles are hired internally and the youth counselor hire is delayed until Sept. 1, 2026.

Planning and Community Development

The $103,577 less in the mayor’s budget than the requested $2,743,576 increase could be met by not replacing a retiring housing inspector and a vacant administrative assistant position according to Planning and Community Development Director Jeffrey Belanger.

Belanger added that the $78,688 savings in removing the payment of dues to the Southern New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission would increase the difficult of certain planning-related requests such as traffic count studies, identifying developments of regional impact, environmental reviews and other initiatives.

Police Department

The Police Department was the only department in the mayor’s proposed budget that would not see a reduction in budget increases. However, Manchester Police Department Chief Peter Marr indicated to the Aldermen that this represents $761,500 less than requested for FY’ 27.

According to Marr, this reduction in requested funds would necessitate the elimination of the Fusus System ($35,000); the LeadsOnline system used to recover stolen property resold in stores ($17,000), data consolidation efforts with the AXON Standards portal ($55,000); all paid training ($120,000); 80% of SWAT/Drone/K9 Training ($229,600) and a 20% overtime decrease ($282,900) among other budget decreases.

Solicitor’s Office

There is a request for an additional $510,575 to address the need for additional prosecutors, with individual prosecutors taking on over 1,000 cases annually following a recent analysis that has led attorneys to leave for jobs in other municipalities with lighter workloads.

Tax Collector’s Office

Without an additional $60,352 for staff salaries, in order to fund a 2% Cost of Living Adjustment and a 3% Merit Increase, one customer-facing employee will need to be laid off and another customer-facing employee will be transitioned to administrative support.

This reduction in customer service employees is expected to increase in-person wait times by an average of at least 45 to 60 minutes or more per customer and delayed registration times.

Welfare Department

There is a request for $2,422 more for staff development as well as translation services, as translation services are expected to suffer given the expected elimination of the Health Department’s PHAST Team.