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Candia selectmen debate tapping $2.38M fund balance to lower tax rate; motion amended to $240,000, final vote not recorded
Summary
At a special meeting to set the tax rate, selectmen discussed using part of the $2,378,863 unassigned fund balance to reduce the municipal tax rate. A motion was made and amended to apply $240,000 (reducing the rate to about $12.86 per $1,000), but the transcript does not record a final roll-call vote.
The Candia Board of Selectmen met in a special session to set the tax rate and spent the meeting weighing whether to use part of the town’s unassigned fund balance to lower property taxes.
Speaker 3 opened detailed financial figures, saying, “we have $2,378,863 in the unassigned fund balance,” and presented an initial computed tax rate of about $13.12 per $1,000 of assessed value. Board members and staff members discussed how changes in assessed valuation and the chosen fund-balance target translate into per-thousand rate changes; Speaker 4 explained that roughly $93,331 corresponds to a $0.10 change in the tax rate given the current assessed base.
The central policy at issue is the town’s fund-balance target, which Speaker 4 cited as 11.5% of combined town, school and county spending. Using the figures presented, Speaker 4 calculated that 11.5% of combined spending equals about $2,078,794 and that the town’s unassigned fund balance exceeds that target by approximately $300,069.
Speaker 1 proposed lowering the fund-balance share toward that 11.5% target and asked staff to model the tax-rate effect. Speaker 3 then moved to use $300,000 from the unassigned fund balance to reduce the tax rate to about $12.80 per $1,000; Speaker 1 seconded the motion. During discussion Speaker 2 objected, saying the reduction would be “not responsible” given likely budget increases next year and urged caution about drawing reserves.
After additional calculations, Speaker 3 revised the motion, proposing $240,000 instead of $300,000; Speaker 1 confirmed the revision and Speaker 4 seconded. The revised amount was presented as producing an estimated fund-balance share near 11.49% and a municipal tax rate of about $12.86 per $1,000. The transcript captures the motion, the second and substantial discussion, but does not record a clear roll-call vote or formal adoption of the amended motion within the provided segments.
Board members also noted conflicting arithmetic in the record: several participants questioned which combined-spending base (figures of about $12.2 million versus $18.08 million were both cited) should be used for percentage calculations; Speaker 4 consistently referenced the DRA (Department of Revenue Administration) numbers during the discussion and urged adherence to policy unless the board wished to change it formally.
The meeting closed without a recorded outcome for the tax-rate motion in the captured transcript. The final procedural item on the record is a motion to adjourn and an affirmative adjournment vote.
What happens next: Because the transcript does not record a formal vote on the tax-rate motion, the board’s intended tax-rate adjustment and the exact dollar figure applied should be confirmed in the official minutes or subsequent meeting documentation.
