Council authorizes town officials to sign MS‑5 financial report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2025

The Hooksett Town Council authorized town officials to sign the 2025 MS‑5 financial report, the statutory annual report summarizing revenues, expenditures and fund balances for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025.

Christine Duxbury, finance director, explained the report follows New Hampshire Department of Administrative Rules and reconciles the state form with the town’s internal reports. Duxbury said fund equity subtotals showed an increase during the year: the starting fund balance was about $6.0 million and the ending fund equity totaled about $7.0 million, including changes across restricted, committed and unassigned categories. She said the town’s unassigned fund balance (the portion available to be applied to the tax rate) was $5,610,145 at the end of the fiscal year, up from $5,097,235. The town applied $300,000 to reduce the prior year’s tax rate, leaving an earlier reported unassigned balance of $4,797,231, she said.

Duxbury noted the town’s target fund balance percentage is about 8 percent and that the precise percentage for the coming tax rate would be known after tax‑rate setting because the percentage is measured against the total tax warrant. She also described the reconciliation showing why state form totals differ from amounts presented in municipal budget reports (differences include amounts paid to school and county governments).

After the presentation, a councilor moved and the council approved authorizing councilors to sign the MS‑5 report. The council used a voice vote to approve the motion and then passed the form around for signatures.