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Hooksett administrator warns House Bill 293 could shift HealthTrust assessments to towns; council instructs letter of opposition
Summary
Town Administrator Greg Garrett told the Hooksett Town Council March 12 that House Bill 293 would shift responsibility for a HealthTrust risk pool to municipalities and could expose towns to short‑notice assessments; the council approved a motion to draft a letter opposing the bill.
Town Administrator Greg Garrett told the Hooksett Town Council on March 12 that a proposed New Hampshire bill would change how the HealthTrust risk pool is managed and could require municipalities to pay short-term assessments if the pool needs additional funds.
Garrett said HealthTrust — which he described as covering about 191 communities, plus fire departments and libraries — currently manages a pooled risk fund. Under what he described as House Bill 293, the mechanism for addressing shortfalls in that risk pool would shift to municipalities and subdivisions, which could face assessments payable within 30 days if the pool lacked sufficient funds.
"If this passes, it could mean that... an assessment will be made to the communities, to pay within 30 days to restore that money so they can obviously provide the service," Garrett said, describing the change as potentially significant for Hooksett because the town is preparing to operate under a default budget for the next fiscal year.
After the administratorpresented his report and a short discussion, a councilor moved that the council "instructs the administrator to send a letter to our state reps, our state senator and whoever he deems to say that the Hooksett Town Council is against this" and to request explanations and responses from the delegation. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote; the transcript records councilors saying "aye" with no further roll-call detail.
Garrett also told the council the town recovered $66,911.69 from the sale of a tax-deeded property after a required interpleader period concluded and legal efforts to locate heirs failed. He asked the council to appoint a member to the municipal capital improvements program, which runs from April through June.
The council did not formally adopt the letter at the meeting but directed the administrator to draft and send it; Garrett said he would forward the HealthTrust testimony and related materials to councilors prior to the upcoming senate vote.
No council tally for the HB293 letter motion appears in the recorded transcript; the motion passed by voice vote and staff recorded that the letter would be sent to the town's state delegation.
