Select Board and Budget Committee chart 2027 budget course with 5 percent operational target
Select Board and Budget Committee jointly chart 2027 budget strategy with 5 percent operational target. Chairman Jim Craig reported the 2026 default budget required $230,000 in transfers from reserves to cover fire overtime and departmental shortfalls; the town projects no increase in its tax rate
Budget Committee · Meeting of August 25, 2026
NH GOFFSTOWN — Select Board and Budget Committee jointly chart 2027 budget strategy with 5 percent operational target. Chairman Jim Craig reported the 2026 default budget required $230,000 in transfers from reserves to cover fire overtime and departmental shortfalls; the town projects no increase in its tax rate portion while the school district's operating budget and teacher contract are projected to drive a $2.5 million local education tax increase, or 7.9 percent. Selectwoman Allison DeCesere presented a revised unassigned fund balance policy reducing the minimum threshold from 12 percent to 10 percent, with the approximately $9 million balance generating $500,000 annually in interest income that funds municipal obligations between tax collection periods.
The Select Board proposed four capital reserve funds seeded from the unassigned fund balance; Budget Committee member Joe Alexander recommended incorporating police station repairs into a broader Town Facilities fund pending further study rather than establishing a dedicated police station reserve.
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Source: the Budget Committee meeting of August 25, 2026, compiled from the official minutes.
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