The Hooksett Police Department told the Town Council it has proposed a 1.45% operating-budget increase — roughly $87,673 — driven mainly by contractual and inflationary costs, and is requesting $150,000 this year to buy and upfit two patrol vehicles.

“Overall, the budget increased 1.45% from the previous year's default budget. It's an increase in $87,673,” the chief said, adding that most of the increase reflects contractual and inflation-driven cost growth rather than new programs.

The chief said the department had to remove one vehicle from last year’s capital plan because of default-budget constraints and that new vehicles currently cost more: the department’s per-vehicle purchase and upfit was described as “around $75,000.” The department is buying mostly hybrid patrol vehicles to save fuel but cautioned that long-term maintenance costs and downtime for hybrid models remain uncertain once warranties expire.

“Hybrid vehicles have been wonderful at saving money on fuel,” the chief said, but added that hybrids can have longer downtime for repairs and require specialized parts and outside mechanics. Councilors and staff asked for data on maintenance costs under warranty and on vehicle downtime; the chief said he would provide maintenance and warranty-cost figures at a future meeting.

Staffing and retention dominated the department’s presentation. The chief said Hooksett’s force is “technically down 4 officers” because two recent hires are in the academy or working through field training, while others are out on FMLA or light duty. He said retaining experienced officers is crucial because recruiting is difficult: fitness tests and written exams narrow the candidate pool and larger neighboring agencies often attract applicants with higher pay.

“We are lucky to hold a PT test once or twice a month for one or two people if they show up,” the chief said. “Retaining these employees is kind of the most important thing I can do because finding new employees is extremely difficult.”

Councilors asked about the K-9 program, and the chief said the K-9 is funded primarily through a canine trust (fundraising) while the town covers overtime associated with deployments. The department said the canine, named Harris, is used for both apprehension and explosive-detection tasks and was recently deployed to a SNHU incident.

Other items discussed included the department’s CAD/RMS (computer-aided dispatch/records-management) system, described by the chief as “the brains of our operation” and costly to migrate away from; a line item for state inspections included only as a contingency if legislation or appeals change inspection requirements; and health‑insurance and dental costs, which rose by about 11.7% last year and are expected to increase again.

Councilors and staff held a detailed discussion about fleet replacement timing, potential cost tradeoffs between hybrids and conventional gasoline vehicles (the chief said hybrids cost about $3,000 more per vehicle), and the longer-term risks of falling behind the replacement cycle. The chief cautioned that deferring replacements can lead to multiple vehicles reaching end-of-life simultaneously and to higher unplanned maintenance and downtime costs.

The department emphasized training, overtime and benefit lines as essential to retention; the chief estimated the full cost to recruit and train a replacement officer — academy time, field training and overtime for trainers — is significant and urged the council to factor workforce stability into budget deliberations.