Reps could vote on county budget Wednesday night

LACONIA — Belknap County's elected state representatives will meet Wednesday, to discuss and potentially vote on the county budget.

The budget review committee spent roughly the last month reviewing the recommendations made by County Commissioners Peter Spanos (District 1, chair), Glen Waring (District 2, vice chair) and Steven Hodges (District 3, clerk). They looked at the proposed budgets for each department, and considered revenues and expenditures, line by line. 

The county budget committee will present their recommendations to the full group on Wednesday. The county must pass a budget before April 1, otherwise the budget recommended by commissioners goes into effect. 

County commissioners recommended a 7.6% increase in the amount to be raised by taxes, with increased operating expenses of $40.5 million, and increased revenues of $14.4 million. They recommended using $2 million from the fund balance, increasing their total revenue line to $16.4 million, for a total increase in revenues of 8% over last year. 

Based on discussion so far, it appears likely the committee will recommend a budget to the county delegation with a diminished increase in the amount to be raised by taxes. Though preliminary, as no vote has been taken, their recommendation may include an increase of 4.8%. 

Belknap County’s Delegation comprises its elected representatives to the Statehouse,

Reps. Glen Aldrich (R-Gilford); Harry Bean (R-Gilford, chair); Steven Bogert (R-Laconia); Mike Bordes (R-Laconia, vice chair); Matthew Coker (R-Meredith); Barbara Comtois (R-Barnstead); Russell Dumais (R-Gilford); Lisa Freeman (R-Tilton); Juliet Harvey-Bolia (R-Tilton, clerk); Sheri Minor (R-Laconia); David Nagel (R-Gilmanton); Thomas Ploszaj (R-Center Harbor); Charlie St. Clair (D-Laconia); Paul Terry (R-Alton); Travis Toner (R-Belmont); Douglas Trottier (R-Belmont); and Peter Varney (R-Alton). 

Bean, Bogert, Bordes, Coker, Freeman, Harvey-Bolia and St. Clair sat on the budget review committee. 

The meeting is at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at the Belknap County Complex off North Main Street.

An increase of 4.8% in the amount to be raised by taxes works out to an average county tax rate of $1.07, an increase of $0.05 over last year, or about $30 on a $600,000 home. 

Budget review committee members recommended flat or reduced funding for outside agencies serving county residents.

For the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, commissioners recommended allocating $182,500, an increase of the $82,500 approved last year. It's anticipated budget review committee members will recommend level funding this year. In 2023 and 2024, that organization received $165,000 in county funding.  

Commissioners also recommended increased funding to the Belknap County Conservation District, from $50,000 in 2023 and 2024, to $60,000, though the delegation voted to reduce their funding to $25,000 last year and is expected to receive the same figure in the budget review committee’s recommendation. 

The Belknap County Conservation District is unique, as it was established through enabling legislation in 1985. New Hampshire RSA 432:12 created 10 county conservation districts as governmental subdivisions of the state.

And the committee may recommend level funding to Lakes Region Mental Health Center, which received $16,000 in county appropriations last year, half of the $32,000 they received the two years prior. 

The county’s largest expenditure is its nursing home, also located on the property at the county complex. Commissioners recommended $15.8 million in total expenditures for the nursing home, which is public, operated by the county, and serves a mixture of private-pay and Medicaid residents. 

According to their recommendations, the nursing home is expected to take in over $11 million in revenue in 2026. 

Debra Shackett, the county’s longtime administrator, retired at the end of January. She’s replaced by new County Administrator Carina Park, who previously served as town manager of Lincoln. 

“Right now, the nursing home expenditures are $15.7 million, the offsetting revenues to that is $11.4 million,” Shackett said at a recent budget discussion. “The cost to the taxpayers is $4.3 million.”