Concord City Manager Proposes 3.95% Budget Increase For Fiscal Year 2024

CONCORD, NH — During the next two weeks, the Concord City Council finance subcommittee, featuring councilors and the mayor, will meet to discuss the fiscal year 2024 budget.

City Manager Tom Aspell unveiled the budget Thursday, giving councilors an overview of the budget, about $130.1 million, including a 3.95 percent tax rate increase. The proposed increase is about 1 percent lower than FY2023 but raises the budget by $7 million. Each 1 percent increase is about $467,260. About 73 percent of the budget is wages and benefits. According to Brian LeBrun, the deputy city manager-finance, wages were increased by about $1.3 million in this year's budget.

Much of the budget outlines council goals during the past two years — including expanded public safety, community partnerships, and sustainability.

Last year, the city added a fourth ambulance, due to increased call volume, which also bring in revenue to the city.

The police department currently has 16 vacancies, with five at the academy. Aspell proposed a social worker for the department to “diversify the workforce” and manage “issues that do not require a police officer.” The position, budgeted for 10 months at $84,200, will be paid for by funds from the opioid settlement reserve.

Aspell said he would like to “grow that office, over time,” and have another social worker hired next year. He suggested the social workers on the police force might even have their own division. There are calls, Aspell said, where you do not need to send a police officer. Officers and the social worker, too, could go to calls together, and then, when the officer is not needed, the social worker could stay on to assist.

“Essentially,” Aspell said, “you’re getting the job done in a different way.”

Between the prisons, the state hospital, and the need to be a resource, Aspell said, “it was a natural progression,” and a different way of policing and it made sense to start here “as the world changes.” He wondered if police officers were needed at every accident since, essentially, doing the work of the insurance company, like an agent. If there is no violation, they would not be needed.

Aspell said, “Very quickly,” he’ll be asking for the second position and maybe as many as four social workers for the department.

“It’s going to be a tough job,” he said. “But, then again, it’s a great opportunity for somebody.”

LeBurn said it was “critical” to fill those police vacancies, but it was difficult with the current job market. The city has found hiring harder, even as the economy flirts with a recession, and has a turnover rate of about 20 percent. Aspell added that social workers were also in high demand.

Budget Hearings

All the budget meetings start at 5:30 p.m. in the Concord City Council Chamber.

• Monday, May 22: General Government, Public Safety-Police and Fire, General Services.
• Thursday, May 25: Community Development, Leisure Services-Library, Parks and Recreation, Human Services, Capital Improvement Program-TIF Districts, Capital.
• Thursday, June 1: Special Revenue Funds-Parking, Airport, Conservation Property, Revolving Loan, Golf Course, Arena, Solid Waste, Enterprise Funds-Water and Wastewater.
• Monday, June 5: Finance Committee Work Session and Public Hearings, and Public Hearing Action (Adoption).

Read the 665 page budget document here.

A second full-time administrator will be hired for the cemetery office to improve customer service. Aspell said, too, retirements were coming to the office in the future and, this way, another person would be available to “step into that position.” An engineering technician is also being reinstated in the Engineering Department.

The city will also release about 15 percent of the captured incremental assessed value in the Penacook Village tax increment finance district from the Interchange Development and Market Basket project on Whitney Road.

Health care costs are increasing by 9.5 percent — a family plan for an employee costs the city around $32,000, LeBrun said, while the city is using about $900,000 in one-time money, the last year of ARPA funds. Water rates will increase by 4.5 percent while sewage will increase by 5 percent.

Changes were made, too, to the economic development department in recent years. Aspell said he was comfortable sticking with “the more project-based approach” the city had taken to move the community forward. He said there was a vibrancy in the city, with new housing coming online and a focus on high quality of life.

About $20.1 million has been proposed for the city’s capital budget — a 10.3 percent increase compared to last year.

Projects include designing a roundabout for McKee Square, repairs to several bridges, new pedestrian countdown signals at the intersection of North Main, Washington, and Ferry streets, and nearly $1.1 million in sidewalk construction for Airport Road, Pembroke Road, Sheep Davis Road, and Chenell Drive. The city is also proposing to budget $800,000 — along with private donations and federal funds, to replace the Monkey Around Playground, $384,000 for lights at Keach Park, and $2 million for the Canal Street Riverfront Park in Penacook. The city is also sponsoring a study of Memorial Field that will be partially paid for by SAU 8, the Concord School District, which may lead to “a major redo” of the park, Aspell said.

Aspell said the lights for Keach Park had been in the budget in the past but now, there seemed to be support for it. Several New American residents have been active requesting the lights to play soccer at night of late after previously saying they were not interested in the lights. The city is in the process of building a soccer mini-pitch, the first in the city, at the park that will be illuminated.

The city will also be spending nearly $3.8 million on new vehicles for the fire, police, and general services department.

Renovations will also be made to the police station, mainly the roof, while the city looks for another location in the future for a new police station. The repairs, Aspell said, would not be a waste of money since the police station would be used for other purposes in the city hall complex. What is the price tag for a new police station? About $25 million, possibly in 2027.

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