Hooksett planning board advances six-year capital improvements plan, sends it to town council

The Hooksett Planning Board on June 16 reviewed a draft six-year Capital Improvement Plan that lays out roughly $18.02 million in municipal projects for fiscal years 2026–2031 and voted to forward the plan to the Town Council for its consideration.

The plan was presented by Christine Tewksbury, the town’s finance director. “Good evening. I'm Christine Tewksbury, the finance director. And I am filling in for, our administrator, Andre Grant, to present the CIP,” Tewksbury said as she introduced the document and summarized the committee's review process and the statutory basis for the plan.

The presentation described how departments submit six‑year capital requests to finance, how a CIP subcommittee met with departments and other representatives, and how the plan is intended to inform the council’s budgeting and warrant-article decisions. The plan groups projects by funding source — tax dollars, capital reserves, TIF (tax increment financing) revenue, state and federal grants, and sewer/wastewater funds — and shows a front‑loaded spike in the first two years driven largely by TIF-funded projects and a major north‑main/Route 3A improvement estimated at roughly $10.2 million with “a lot of that funding coming from the state,” Tewksbury said.

Board members pressed staff on details of project funding and voter outreach. Jared Williams and other board members asked whether reserve funds are sufficient after last year’s warrant-article defeats; Christine Tewksbury responded that the town has some funds available for specific items but that some projects were shifted later in the schedule to reflect a missed year of voter support. “Some of the things we do have the money for, but some of the things we don't,” she said, adding that the committee had shifted some projects into later years and is “hoping that in 2026, the voters will then again approve the warrant articles to support the capital improvements.”

Board members discussed the TIF-funded Exit 10 infrastructure package and noted that the largest single elements of the plan depend on voter authorization of TIF spending and later incremental tax revenues to service debt. Board members also urged clearer voter messaging to reduce sticker shock — several members said residents seeing a $12 million TIF number on a warrant could react negatively without explanation that captured incremental tax revenues, not current general-tax levies, would service much of the cost.

The plan lists items by department and source: police cruiser replacements and radio/console equipment to be funded from capital reserves; DPW vehicle replacements and major road/intersection projects proposed for a mix of grants, impact fees and bonds; a $6.18 million proposal listed for Memorial School infrastructure that the schools submitted to the CIP committee and intend to fund by bond; and wastewater-specific improvements to be paid by sewer customers with some state aid.

After discussion, Commissioner Jim Sullivan moved that the board accept the CIP committee’s presentation and forward the plan to the Town Council; the motion was seconded and passed with one abstention. The planning board vote produced one recorded abstention; the board chair directed the plan be forwarded to the Town Council for its review and decision on which warrant articles to place before voters.

The planning board emphasized the CIP is a planning document. Final decisions on warrant articles and the number of projects presented to voters remain the Town Council’s responsibility, and board members said they expect further review and possible edits before articles are finalized for the ballot.

Copies of the draft CIP were available to board members and will be supplied to the council along with any suggested clarifications requested by the planning board.

Ending — Next steps: The board forwarded the draft CIP to the Town Council; staff said they will provide additional breakdowns on the school portion and further detail on urgency/prioritization for the board to review in July.