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Keene officials preview budget finalization, warn of tax 'sticker shock' after revaluation
Summary
City Manager Elizabeth Ferrind and Deputy City Manager Rebecca Landry said the council will consider written budget changes by June 16 and finalize the budget on June 18; staff warned that a statemandated revaluation raising assessed values to market levels could cause 'sticker shock' for homeowners despite a likely lower municipal tax rate.
City Manager Elizabeth Ferrind and Deputy City Manager Rebecca Landry said the Keene City Council will accept written budget changes through Tuesday, June 16, and will act on the full budget at its June 18 meeting, where a series of resolutions, project bond items and wage adjustments are expected to be considered.
Ferrind framed the meeting as the culmination of a budget hearing in which Mayor Kond walked the council and the public through each section of the proposed spending plan. She urged residents to review the budget and noted that only a small number of people attended the public hearing but those who did supported items such as a local marathon and converting a community development position from part time to full time.
The city is proposing to convert a part-time community development planning position (currently about 32 hours) to a full-time role for an initial three-year period, Ferrind said. A local Clean Energy group and other community sponsors have offered to cover the additional salary costs for those three years under a memorandum of understanding, staff said, allowing the city to expand sustainability work at no immediate net cost to the municipal budget.
Ferrind also warned residents about a separate but related fiscal change: a statemandated revaluation being conducted by the city assessor to bring assessed property values to 100 percent of market value, per the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration. She said notices of new assessed values are expected before the council’s summer break with final values set ahead of the next tax rate in November.
"I'm concerned about that," Ferrind said of rapidly rising residential market values, adding that although the municipal tax rate may drop because assessed values are increasing faster than the budget, homeowners may experience "sticker shock" when they see the new valuations. Ferrind explained that commercial property values have not risen at the same pace as residential values, meaning the tax burden could shift more heavily onto homeowners.
On personnel and public safety, staff identified roughly $500,000 in added budget cost to increase fire department wages and add four firefighters (one position per 24-hour shift) so the city can staff all three ambulances and maintain service levels. Ferrind said emergency services pressures are not unique to Keene and reflected broader state and national trends.
The council will consider any proposed council amendments on June 18 before finalizing the budget, staff said. If adopted, some changes (wage adjustments, ordinance language, project bonding) would take effect in the coming fiscal year; procedural timelines for implementation were not specified.
