Policy Blog NH

How NH towns and cities are managing the Recession

New Hampshire is moving into Town Meeting season, when local budgets will be debated and decided upon by citizens. To mark that annual ritual, the Center has developed an updated analysis of how the Great Recession has impacts local government operations across the state.

Our new report (available here) also provides examples of the data the Center has collected on each city and town in the state. New this year, we've also designed an interactive map, available on our website, which displays differences in municipal financing patterns, including a comparison to statewide averages for each city and town.

A regional approach to policymaking?

New Hampshire's traditions of strong local control and town-based governance are deeply rooted in the state's politics and culture. But we at the Center have lately been thinking of ways that more cross-border, regional approaches might improve decision-making across the state.

NH's latest pension reforms: Tallying the bottom line

The Center’s latest Policy Note examines the potential impact of the recent slate of reforms to New Hampshire’s pension system. While those reforms will likely lower overall pension costs for public employers as a whole, the impact will vary considerably between the state and local government levels. In fact, under every likely scenario analyzed by the Center, the new reforms will yield year-over-year savings for the state, while local governments – the towns, cities and school districts who pay into the retirement system – will see higher pension costs, year over year.

You can read the full Policy Note for a more thorough analysis, but here are a few graphics illustrating the trends behind the recent push for reform and the potential fiscal impacts of those changes.

Measuring the state and local tax burden

In honor of Tax Day, here are a couple of graphs to get you in a fiscal frame of mind.

The first shows New Hampshire's resident tax burden as a percentage of personal income, compared to a handful of states with similar socio-economic factors.

Town Meeting Time Again

The New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies is again partnering with New Hampshire Public Radio on their 2010 Town Meeting website.  Town historic spending and revenue is available on our website.  We also have information available on SB2.  One frequent question we get is:  What share of New Hampshire local governance follows the traditional town meeting format? 

The Common Burden of Public Appropriations and State Aid to Local Governments

New Hampshire state aid to local governments was a much debated topic in the recently completed State budget negotiations.  The Governor proposed cutting state revenue sharing in February, but increasing state aid to schools, as part of the adequate education funding.  School building aid was cut out of the House budget altogether, but then restored by the Senate and the Committee of Conference.  What do these changes mean for the balance of appropriations between the state and local governments?