Jeanie Forrester: Meredith Selectboard hears about tax bill adjustments, Inter-Lakes grant

The Dec. 22 Selectboard meeting included a visit from Meredith’s state senator and representative, a request for support from the Inter-Lakes School District, a strategic planning grant, 2026 budget information, and clarification on recent tax bills.

The meeting with Sen. Tim Lang and Rep. Matt Coker was an opportunity to express the town’s concerns about diminishing revenues from the state, loss of local control via more restrictive legislation around land use, and the Winnipesaukee River Basin Program’s increasing costs. Both legislators assured the board they will advocate for the communities they represent.

Inter-Lakes School District Superintendent Mary Moriarty asked the board to sign a letter of support for a T-Mobile Hometown Grant. The grant asks for $50,000 to help fund a $369,000 project for field lighting at the Charles G. Burrows Memorial Athletic Field. To date, funds raised through donations, pledges, and banner sales is $188,235. The outstanding balance (potentially as high as $181,000) will appear as a standalone warrant article at the Annual School District meeting in March. The goal between now and then is to make the balance as small as possible through continued fundraising efforts and a successful T-Mobile grant application.

The town was awarded a strategic planning grant from New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services to perform a study for filtration/removal of total organic carbon (TOC) from our raw water as well as investigating recycling most of the wastewater generated from the backwash process. With the proper removal of TOCs and recycling backwash water, there will be cost savings from the reduction of future testing and wastewater discharge. The grant is timely as we are preparing to rebuild the filters at the treatment facility in 2027. The $30,000 grant requires a 50% match from the town. Those matching funds will come from the consulting and water treatment line items in the proposed 2026 budget.

The selectboard received additional information on revenues: 2026 revenues are projected at $7.3 million, compared to 2025 projected revenues of $6.7 million.

The board voted to set a public hearing on the proposed 2026 budget for Monday, Feb. 9. There will also be a public hearing for long-term debt over $100,000 for the water department in January. For more information on the budget presentations, visit meredithnh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1558/2026-Meredith-Budget-Presentations.

The town manager advised the selectboard of an error between the assessing system and MUNIS (financial software) system. Approximately $800,000 in assessed value was not taxed in the second issue tax bill, the bill residents received in December. The error does not affect all tax bills, and any error under $5 will be waived. Corrected tax bills will be sent out shortly with a letter of explanation. In the meantime, staff are working to identify the problem and develop a new method of verification, so it does not happen again.

The next meeting of the selectboard is Monday, Jan. 12.

Other important dates:

• SMP Architecture will present a space needs analysis on the Town Hall/Annex at the Monday, Jan. 26 Selectboard meeting
• Town Meeting is just around the corner (March 11) and per RSA 39:3, petitioned warrant articles are due the 5th Tuesday (Feb. 3) prior to Town Meeting to the town clerk

On behalf of the entire selectboard, we wish our residents a Happy New Year.

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Jeanie Forrester serves on the Meredith Selectboard.