Dozens of Manchester residents weighed in on the city’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year at a packed meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Tuesday. Rising cost of living and inflation were foremost on residents’ minds, although the board still did not decide on a finalized budget.
“Budget season involves competing priorities,” said resident Jessica Margeson while advocating for a line item that would give $250,000 to the city’s urban forestry grant. “There are roads to fix, buildings to maintain, a lot of potholes to fill, services to fund, and only so many dollars to go around.”
Taxes are bound to go up in the city, but the central disagreement on Tuesday was by how much. Most of the city’s revenue comes from property taxes and the city’s tax cap hovers around 3%, even as inflation has risen about 4% over the past year, according to the latest congressional report.
Republican aldermen advocated for a budget around $460 million for the city and school district that would cut services and keep the tax increase below 3%. They also voted down a compromise $474 million budget from Democrats that would override the tax cap to keep city services, about an 8% increase in property taxes.
While the city faces financial headwinds, some residents supported keeping the new budget below the tax cap. But others said it was worth overriding it – especially to fix potholes, fund schools, staff the police department, pay for buses and keep the West Side Library open.
“I'd feel a lot happier about where my taxes are going if I didn't have to wiggle my car through a minefield, or have to worry about the conditions of our schools and their facilities properly accommodating students,” said resident Dylan Torres. “If we're going to be taxed anyways, I want it to at least properly fund the city.”
But other residents said a property tax increase would make it harder to make ends meet. They said it was time to bring more scrutiny to public school spending and slash public services to keep taxes as low as possible.
“The tax cap exists for a reason,” said resident Nikki Beaulieu, while speaking about the difficulty of making ends meet. “It is a promise to residents that there is a limit to how much government will grow at their expense. Overriding the tax cap would be disastrous for homeowners and renters.”
The deadline to pass a budget is next Tuesday, according to the city charter. It is likely that a emergency session will be called, but if the aldermen don’t reach a decision by the end of the month, the city will automatically adopt the original budget proposed by Mayor Jay Ruais, which keeps the tax rate about the same rate of the cap.
