MANCHESTER, NH – Barring a mayoral veto, June 9th was the deadline for several Fiscal Year 2027 budgets before the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen. June 9th would also become the day when those budgets were approved.
After several months of negotiation, the board approved a series of required appropriation votes in a special meeting that came about once no consensus could be reached at the board’s final regularly scheduled meeting prior to the deadline on June 2.
The plan, co-sponsored by Alderman At-Large June Trisciani and Ward 9 Alderman Jim Burkush, reached the finish line thanks to support from Ward 11 Alderman Norm Vincent and Ward 12 Alderwoman Kelly Thomas along with the nine Aldermen that backed the Trisciani/Burkush proposal in its earlier forms.
Within the finalized Trisciani/Burkush proposal approved Tuesday night the Fiscal Year 2027 budget for the City of Manchester will be set at $203,407,657 and the Manchester School District budget will come in at $244,792,749. These numbers were respectively $8,069,772 and $3,511,000 more than the mayor’s proposed budgets earlier this year. These figures rely upon an additional $11.9 million dollars from the expected $108.5 million in revenue that will become available after the expected new assessed values later this year of Manchester’s total property valuation at $5.6 billion, and required an override of tax cap which needed 10 votes from the board if everyone is present.
Trisciani said she felt that the proposal brought forward on June 9 was not perfect, but was the best path forward.
“It’s fair to say that that there is not one person that is satisfied with this budget for many reasons. However, the proposal that is put in front of you took a lot of hours, a lot of time and a lot of discussion with our department heads to get us here today,” she said. “That is the duty of an Alderman. That is our job. That is why you put us here.”
During questioning of the proposal, it was determined that it would add approximately $400 a year in taxes to the average homeowner in the city, but Trisciani noted that the figures passed Tuesday would be fluid, as an official tax rate would not become available until certification of the city’s budget with the New Hampshire Department of Revenue later this year.
These proposals drew sharp criticism from Ward 6 Alderman Crissy Kantor and Ward 8 Alderman Ed Sapienza, as the pair re-introduced a new version of their plan, which came in just under the tax cap and focused on adding $2.5 million in contingency funds they believed would provide flexibility for currently unknown amounts, such as the city’s pending contract negotiations with its two police unions.
Kantor said proposals that exceed the tax cap would make the city unaffordable for many residents, particularly seniors living on fixed incomes.
Sapienza said providing additional funding to the school district was unwise in light of recent news that the Manchester School District planned to use money originally earmarked for early bond repayments on Phase One of its facilities plan as part of negotiations with supporters of the Trisciani-Burkush proposal. He described the district’s financial maneuvering as “a shell game.”
Sapienza also challenged Trisciani’s assertion that budget figures remain fluid throughout the process, arguing that city officials need greater certainty when making financial decisions.
“To me, representation isn’t saying ‘oh jeez, we don’t have all of the info, let’s just leave it to the Department of Revenue Administration in Concord’, that’s not representation. We’re representing the city and we need to make some decisions out here,” said Sapienza.
The Sapienza/Kantor plan lost 11-3, with Ward 7 Alderman Ross Terrio joining Sapienza and Kantor. Terrio said that he felt the plan was not realistic and referred to the plan as the “Sapienza/Kantor/Girard” budget, insinuating that former Alderman Rich Girard wrote the plan. However, he also said that he had received significant input from his constituents to support the plan. Sapienza said he would take Girard’s guidance any day of the week.
Terrio also presented a budget approximately halfway between the mayor’s proposed budgets and the Trisciani/Burkush proposal, which also failed 11-3, with support only coming from Terrio, Vincent and Thomas. This budget also would have required a tax cap override.
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais said that passing no budget before the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1 would likely result in layoffs and a need to borrow from the city’s healthcare reserve account, something that would likely lower the city’s credit rating, making that option a non-starter.
That just left the budget presented by the mayor in March, which was required to be under the tax cap according to the charter.
Several members of the board asked Ruais if he felt that his budget could properly maintain services for the city. He noted that each year new data comes into focus in the months after he is required to submit a budget in March. He also said that his budget was an effort to follow what he had been hearing from constituents.
“Some think we spent far too much (in the past), some think we spent too little. I tried to strike a path in between,” said Ruais.
The mayor’s budget did not receive any motion for support.
Prior to the override motion, Vincent made a motion to place two thirds of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget ($1,312,667) toward lowering the tax rate and put the rest toward the city’s severance fund. Without such a vote, the surplus would have been split evenly between the city’s severance fund, the “rainy day” fund as it is known, and tax relief.
That motion passed 13-1, with only Kantor opposing.
The override vote passed 11-3, with only Terrio, Sapienza and Kantor opposing. The board then approved three separate motions: a motion to pass the Trisciani/Burkush Manchester School District budget, the Trisciani/Burkush city budget and a motion to use $300,000 from the Health Services Reserves Account and $70,000 in opioid abatement funds toward tax relief.
The city budget was approved 11-3 with the same set of votes from the override vote and then the other two motions were approved 10-4 with Thomas joining the three opposers from the override vote in opposing the plan.
Other budget resolutions that passed included the Community Improvement Program or CIP for the next year, appropriating $5,142,275 in parking revenues to the parking fund, $33,804,234 in sewer rental charges toward the Department of Public Works’ Environmental Projection Department; appropriating $49,366,765 to the Manchester Airport Authority; appropriating $1,999,838 for the Manchester Transit Authority; appropriating incremental meals; appropriating $6,300,000 to the Manchester School Food and Nutrition Services program, $700,000 for the Central Business Service District from the Central Business Service District Funds and that rooms tax are held in the Civic Center fund toward payment of the city’s obligations over the next year.
These budgets were approved on a voice count.
Statements issued by Burkush on behalf of all 11 aldermen supporting the Trisciani/Burkush city budget can be found below.
Prior to the meeting, a rally against overriding the tax cap was held by the Manchester Republican Committee or MRC. Several of the individuals in the rally attended the meeting and expressed frustration with the outcome.
“You don’t want an abrupt increase in taxes. If (the aldermen) stick to what they promised to the taxpayers of the city, who are the fuel to the engine that runs the city, then you’ll have happier people and more people moving here because they know the city is more predictable when it comes to property taxes,” said MRC Chair Ken Tassey during the rally.
