MANCHESTER, N.H. – Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais is set to provide his Fiscal Year 2027 budget presentation on Thursday night, building on the overarching vision he set earlier this year during his second inaugural address.
In a discussion with Manchester Ink Link on Wednesday afternoon, Ruais said he aims to protect affordability for Manchester residents, attempting to limit government expenses that will impact residents during a difficult economic climate. The elimination of unfunded vacancies in city departments will be proposed and additional modifications to existing staff compliments may be part of negotiations in upcoming months with the city’s Aldermen as the budget process continues.
Other initiatives such as the first independent non-annual audits since 2018 for Manchester’s public schools and several city departments and the creation of a Central Purchasing Department will also be mentioned. Currently, the city’s 24 different departments have their own separate purchasing policies and Ruais has indicated that consolidating purchasing efforts into a single place will eventually save approximately $1 million per year, with the hiring of a central purchasing manager expected with money currently within the City Clerk’s Department budget.
He also reiterated he would not be able to support the proposed baseline or fully-funded budgets proposed by the Manchester Board of School Committee, indicating that they would be equivalent to a $540 and $840 tax increase for the average Manchester family. Ruais also disagreed with the assertion made by some on the Board of School Committee that anything less than the maximum amount allowable budget increase under the city’s tax cap prevents the school district’s budget from keeping up with inflation since the tax cap amount is based on inflation figures.
“Every family living in Manchester needs to live within their means and Manchester also has to live within its means,” he said.
While Ruais says he is focused on efficiency, he says he does not want to do so at the expense of city functions. The mayor is seeking to continue advancing the findings of the recently concluded compensation study conducted by the city’s Human Resources Department to fill the incomplete Police Department roster, find approximately $160,000 to retain firefighters brought onboard from soon-to-be expiring SAFER grants, spending $600,000 toward a new proposed pool at Sheehan-Basquil Park and using $60,000 to pay for lighting at the archways on Elm Street, Kelley Street and the Gaslight District.
Ruais also seeks to re-create the engagement center once found on a weekly basis at the former Beech Street Shelter on the first floor of the new shelter for elderly and disabled homeless individuals on Elm Street, expanding the engagement center’s hours and consolidating services from community partners to help the homeless community escape the cycle of homelessness.
While he says this budget has unique challenges, Ruais notes that the first two budget seasons he faced as mayor have taught him lessons, particularly in terms of avoiding top-down mandates or introducing measures for the sake of optics – instead gathering as much information as possible through collaboration and conversation wherever it might come.
“You have to be communicating in this job, you have to listen to the person who will stop you at Hannaford to talk about something,” he said.
The special meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen where Ruais will release his proposed city and school budgets will take place at City Hall at 6 o’clock. The proposed budgets, which are required to be at or below the city’s tax cap maximum, will then face review by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen before that board approves a finalized budget for the city and school district prior to the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1.