Public hearing on Human Relations Committee is Monday night, tax rate down

LACONIA — Councilors will hold a public hearing at their meeting on Monday night about making the Human Relations Committee a permanent, council committee. 

No action will be taken at the Monday, Dec. 8, meeting of the city council, according to the agenda. The meeting is at 7 p.m. in the Armand A. Bolduc Council Chamber at City Hall downtown.

A proposed amendment to Chapter 5, Article III - Boards and Commissions of the charter would add a section for establishing the Human Relations Committee — at present, a “mayor’s committee" — as a council committee, and outline the procedures for appointment of members. 

Councilors, at a Nov. 10 meeting, approved a motion to set a public hearing for Monday. 

The Human Relations Committee was established by Mayor Matt Lahey, who worked with former Police Chief Bill Baker to form the group in 2000. Its initial impetus was to assist refugees, many of whom immigrated to Laconia from Laos, various countries in Africa, Iraq, Bhutan and other areas to settle in the United States.  

Over the first 15 years or so of its existence, the committee met regularly at the Laconia Police Department, and helped refugee families navigate social services and other day-to-day challenges they faced.

In 2001, what is now the Laconia Multicultural Festival began as Multicultural Market Day. It was a student project, organized with input from the police department. Today, the Laconia Multicultural & Folk Festival is a major annual event in the city that brings visitors downtown for musical, cultural and culinary experiences, as it has for 22 years.

The committee also plans and runs a remembrance event around Martin Luther King Jr. Day each year. 

Patrick Wood, who is the current chair of the committee and has been involved for about five years, said the purpose of the group is to help foster understanding between all citizens. It isn’t there to take a stance on particular issues, but seeks to include as many different perspectives as possible when looking at them. 

“And that’s been our goal,” Wood said on Thursday. 

The Human Relations Committee does not have formal authority to make policy decisions in the city. 

“We are educational,” Carol Pierce, a member of the HRC, said Thursday. “We give people a voice, people who have not been heard.”

Also at the meeting on Monday, Finance Director Glenn Smith will present about the fiscal year 2024-25 annual comprehensive financial statement.

On Dec. 2, City Manager Kirk Beattie sent a notice that Laconia’s tax rate is set at $12.98 per $1,000 of assessed value, a 4.8% decrease over last year’s rate. 

The total rate last year was $13.63 per $1,000 of assessed value: $5.44 for the city; $0.96 for the county; $6.08 for local school; and $1.15 for statewide education. This year: $5.21 city; $0.93 county; $5.72 local school; and $1.12 statewide education.  

The new rate, set by staff of the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, is $0.65 lower than the previous rate. 

The city’s total assessed valuation increased from $4.4 billion to $4.7 billion. Tax bills were set to be mailed by Dec. 5 with a due date of Monday, Jan. 5.