Council accepts MS‑9/MS‑10 reports; councilor requests detailed accounting for recreation reserve withdrawals

The Concord City Council accepted the June 30, 2025 MS‑9 and MS‑10 reports from the city treasurer on Sept. 8, but Councilor Brown pulled the item for discussion and asked for clarification regarding withdrawals from the recreation reserve.

Brown said the MS‑9 showed a $400,000 addition earlier in the year and a $200,000 withdrawal she could not reconcile in the budget documents she reviewed. City Finance Deputy/Deputy City Manager and City Treasurer (LeBrun) responded that the $200,000 insertion/withdrawal was included in the budget process and that transfers from reserves into operating budgets are shown in budget detail appendices; those transfers are treated as revenue that offsets operating expenditures rather than itemized line‑by‑line purchases.

LeBrun said the transfers were authorized through the budget and supplemental appropriations and explained that the detailed line items appear in the budget appendices provided to council during the budget cycle. Councilor Brown requested a clear, itemized report showing which recreation items the recreation reserve funds paid for, citing RSA 41:9 and council fiduciary responsibility for reserve funds. Councilors discussed whether a separate report or a staff briefing would resolve the question; no supplemental motion requiring an immediate additional report passed, and the MS‑9/MS‑10 reports were accepted by the council.

City staff offered to sit down with councilors to walk through the detailed budget appendices and to provide clarity on transfers from reserves. Councilors said staff responses and the budget appendices are the authoritative sources; Brown asked staff to return with a clearer mapping of recreation reserve withdrawals to expenditures so the public can see how assigned reserve dollars were used.