Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget And Planning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City manager previews FY27 budget, flags firefighter staffing pressures and county ambulance fee; zoning ordinance tabled
Summary
Elizabeth Furland, City of Keene manager, said she proposed a FY27 budget that meets fiscal policy targets but remains about $600,000 below policy and would raise the municipal tax rate by more than 6%; she also flagged ongoing fire-staffing work and a potential county charge for ambulance backup. The council accepted several items as informational and tabled a contested zoning ordinance that would raise medium-density units to six by right.
Elizabeth Furland, the City of Keene manager, outlined the proposed fiscal 2027 operating budget and several items the council discussed at a recent meeting. She said the budget she proposed meets fiscal-policy constraints but is "about $600,000 below fiscal policy," and warned the municipal portion of the city tax rate is estimated to increase by more than 6% under the proposal.
Furland urged public participation in Finance, Organization & Personnel (FOP) meetings in May and noted the public hearing for the budget will take place at the June 4 city council meeting. She described the FOP process as a committee-style review that hears department presentations and makes a recommendation to the full council.
On public-safety staffing, Furland said the fire department currently staffs 12 firefighters per shift to operate three ambulances (up from 11) and that this minimum staffing creates overtime expenses when personnel are absent; a staffing committee that includes councilors Tom Powers and Brian Lake is studying adding four firefighters and will bring a recommendation in the coming weeks.
Furland also said the county — which currently backs up city ambulance calls without charge — has signaled it may begin charging for backup service and mentioned a potential fee of up to $10,000 a month. The city is negotiating to determine the net value of services exchanged and possible offsets.
Other council items she summarized included a proposal for a parking lot near the skate park tied to a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant; Furland said the site includes soil contamination from a former Findings Building and that capping the contaminated portion with pavement is the likely approach under grant guardrails. That parking proposal was accepted as informational and will return to the council for grant acceptance and additional outreach with neighborhood stakeholders.
Furland said a committee had discussed whether leashed dogs should be allowed in Woodland Cemetery and accepted that topic as informational. She also explained that an ordinance changing several land-use code items — notably raising the number of units allowed by right in medium-density zones to six — prompted a letter from three councilors, produced a split committee vote and a tie at council when one councilor was absent; the matter was tabled until a full council can reconsider it.
Furland closed by encouraging residents to review budget documents posted online and to participate in May FOP meetings; she said more detail and formal recommendations on staffing and other items will be brought forward in the coming weeks.
