City council to hold public hearing Monday on budget for 2025

LACONIA — City Manager Kirk Beattie will present the proposed budget for the Administration Division at 6 p.m. on Monday evening at City Hall, before council holds a public hearing on the city’s budget proposal at their regular meeting.

The city's proposed administrative department budget for fiscal year 2024-25 is $4.9 million, which accounts for 13.5% of the city’s general fund, and includes an operating budget of $2.4 million.

The administration division’s budget provides funding for the mayor, council and city manager’s offices. The proposed budget does not include any new services or initiatives.

Included in the administration division’s budget are recommended city projects totaling about $2.3 million and include big ticket items such as repairs to the Gale Memorial Library, the replacement of the bridge over Langley Brook on Weirs Boulevard and $1.3 million toward maintenance and repairs to city streets. 

City council will hold a public hearing on the entirety of the proposed city budget — $36.9 million — at their regular meeting Monday evening at 7 p.m. at City Hall. 

In recent weeks, each city department head has presented their portion of the budget for fiscal year 2024-25. Salaries and benefits for city employees work out to just under 58% of the budget and operating costs total about 31% of the proposal.

The city tax cap increase for fiscal year 2025 will allow for more than $2.7 million of additional taxable monies, bringing the total up to about $58 million.

The additional $2.7 million of taxable monies is calculated by two factors: the 2024 Consumer Price Index figure was 4.13%, which contributed $2.2 million in taxable monies; and the net value of building construction was close to $450,000. Those figures combined to about $2.7 million. 

Throughout the budget proposal process, city department heads have highlighted challenges in recruiting and retaining employees, particularly those within the police and public works departments.

At the city council meeting, councilors will also discuss a tentative agreement regarding cost of living and wage step increases across some city departments. 

Included in the tentative agreement are rates of pay for jobs within the fire department. Under the tentative agreement, the starting wage in the fire department would be set to $27.01 an hour and would increase to $42.41 at the highest step.

Officers in the fire department would also see increased wages through the steps. A medic captain would start at $40.70 an hour and could increase to $50.06 at the highest step. 

In other business, city council will:

• Consider a temporary traffic order and the waiver of fees associated with the Laconia Multicultural Festival

• Hold a public hearing regarding designating portions of the odd-numbered side of Dixon Street a no-parking area

• Hold a public hearing regarding the Laconia Fire Department EMS billing rates

• Consider a request to schedule two public hearings relative to Community Development Block Grants for June 24; one grant up to $500,000 is to renovate a Partnership for Public Health building located at 11 Academy St. to meet federal ADA accessibility requirements and to improve privacy, safety and security; and one about the adoption of the city’s anti-displacement and relocation assistance plan

• Review a resolution relative to the city’s end-of-year carryforwards, monies previously appropriated for a special purpose but have not yet been spent, which council could authorize to be carried over to the next fiscal year to fund the projects they were originally appropriated for

• Consider a request to designate Prescott and Paugus avenues as emergency lanes

• Discuss providing extra solid waste containers to properties in Laconia

• Review proposed amendment to the budget proposal for fiscal year 2025; approval of these amendments would reduce the amount of money required to be raised by taxes by $652,801