Like many places across the state, residents in Allenstown will see a rise in taxes this year, in large part due to the school district budget, which has a proposed increase of over 5%.
Residents will gather on Saturday morning for the annual deliberative session, when they’ll first discuss town business, then issues facing the school district.
The town budget
The town’s tax rate — if both the $5.6 million proposed budget and all warrant articles pass — will reach $11.38 per $1,000 in property value. A $300,000 house would pay $3,414 in annual town property taxes.
Chair of the Board of Selectmen Scott McDonald said he knows high taxes are at the forefront of many people’s minds.
“It’s hard to report any good news, the ways cities and towns in the state of New Hampshire have to fund municipal activity,” he said.
The increases fall largely outside of the town’s control, but the Budget Committee and the Board of Selectmen have done their best to keep costs as low as they can, McDonald said.
“From a local perspective, we can only do so much. When we’re kowtowing to the state legislature, we have to toe the line,” he said.
McDonald worries that if residents vote for the default budget, which is $296,000 lower, it will affect the town’s ability to provide necessary services. Last year, the default budget won out, leading departments to tighten their purse strings. This year, however, it may be more difficult, he said.
Besides the budget, two warrant articles regarding solid waste disposal and recycling are likely to elicit discussion.
Article #23 would permit the town to add $450,000 to the operating budget for solid waste collection and disposal. This has been an ongoing concern for residents over the past year with the elimination of curbside pickup.
Along similar lines, Article #24 would create a revolving fund to encourage recycling. In 2024, the town ended mandatory recycling due to high costs. With this fund, any revenue collected from solid waste services would accumulate for recycling purposes. The article further stipulates adding $25,000 from the unassigned fund into the recycling fund to start it off.
“This warrant article, if passed, would give us the opportunity to separate our recyclables so that we could sell the ones that are profitable and pay less in fees to dispose of the ones that can’t be sold for a profit,” Selectman Kathleen Pelissier wrote in a recent Facebook post.
The school budget
The Allenstown School District is proposing a budget of $15 million, marking a 5% increase from last year.
“The FY2627 proposed budget reflects ongoing inflationary pressures and increasing student service needs,” the Allenstown School District budget overview states. “Special education and personnel-related expenses represent the most significant cost drivers. Facility costs have also risen as the district continues to acclimate to the new building.”
The default budget is slightly higher than the proposed budget.
Most notably on the school warrant is an article that, if passed, would allow the Allenstown School District to adopt open enrollment while limiting the number of non-resident pupils to 25 or fewer.
The warrant also contains an article that would add $99,000 for salary increases and benefits for paraprofessionals, per a collective bargaining agreement. If this article does not pass, another article proposes a special town meeting to discuss the subject. The same exists for an article adding $174,000 to the Allenstown Education Association to cover salary increases and benefits.
More information
The Allenstown Deliberative Session will be held on Saturday Jan. 31 at 9 a.m. in the gym of the Allenstown Community School.
To access the town’s budget documents, visit www.allenstownnh.gov
To access the school district’s budget documents, visit https://sau53.org