Recently in Sensible Spending -State Category
The Citizen Editorial Sunday, February 15, 2009
We are in difficult times and there are even more difficult times ahead of us. People are going to be hurt. Some will be hurt more than others. There are challenges we must face and challenges we must deal with. Where there are challenges, there are opportunities for achievement.
Gov. John Lynch has presented a budget that addresses today's challenges in the context of what comes tomorrow — a budget that cares for the budget that follows it.
"The budget I present today is balanced," Lynch told the Legislature Thursday. Today it is a goal. Grading of the test will come in two years.
It will be difficult. ...
The Citizen
By NORMA LOVE
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Lynch said all state spending — except for debt payments — is being scrutinized, including state aid to communities which has been immune to budget cuts in the past. Lynch did not estimate the size of the revenue-spending gap he is trying to fill for the budget that covers the two years beginning July 1.
He said indications are revenue will grow little or not at all until the economy rebounds, perhaps in a couple years. "This is not a forever problem," he said. Gary Smith, president of the State Employees Association, said laying off state workers would be counterproductive and prolong the economic recovery by putting more people out of work. "During tough economic times, people turn more to government for services," he said.
Lynch should wait and plug holes with federal stimulus funds, he said. Smith said Lynch also should look first to cutting back on consultants. The union represents most of the state's 11,500 workers. Lynch noted that the state provided $550 million in aid to communities, not counting school adequacy grants, over the last two years. State aid is for a range of programs, including school construction and direct aid to communities.
A new school aid formula will increase state adequacy grants in the next budget by roughly $100 million. Lawmakers developed the new aid system to comply with a constitutional mandate — but have frozen aid in the past to deal with economic cycles. "We're not looking — at this point — at level funding adequacy grants," Lynch said. But Lynch said he must examine all spending — including other local aid programs — because the times are extraordinary. "We are looking at all of our costs," he said. "I certainly don't want to downshift costs onto cities and towns, and I don't want to affect local property taxes. But we're all in this together." He said communities know they also need to defer nonessential spending. The state must consider the $550 million in aid in determining how to produce a balance budget, he said. Lynch said that he won't consider tax increases until he has cut spending. He reiterated his pledge to veto sales and income taxes.
"If you look at the revenue side first, you don't deal with the cost structure," he said.
He said he has not changed his position on gambling, a revenue source gambling advocates are pushing as a partial answer in the tough economic climate. "I would want to see compelling evidence that it doesn't impact our quality of life," he said. Lynch said he won't spare what he judges to be nonessential programs just to continue receiving federal matching funds. That could affect the social services the state provides.
In his inaugural address, Lynch outlined what he considers the state's core missions: public safety, education, helping the most vulnerable and preserving
Declining enrollment and hard times call for recommended action.
By HARRISON HAAS
hhaas@citizen.com
The Citizen Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Gilford School Board is backing a $23.3 million budget for next year, 0.66 percent below the district's current operating budget. Concern from the elementary school staff was directed to the board with the possible elimination of two positions that would decrease the payroll and health care section of the budget.
The bottom line of the budget, which now goes to the Budget Committee for review, is $23,316,817.
"We are aware of the financial status right now," said Carol Young-Podmore, a teacher in the elementary school. "We believe that one more year with an assistant principal would be beneficial."
The Board is seeking to cut out the Assistant Principal position along with a guidance position at the elementary school. Currently the two elementary guidance teachers serve 80 students, which is a 1:5 ratio of students receiving service.
According to statistics, Superintendent Dr. Paul DeMinico claimed that a group of 200 students requires the need of one guidance counselor…..
Estimates are that the state might have to find itself as much as $400 million more in the next two years than it spent in the current two-year budget.
By TOM FAHEY State House Bureau Chief
Union Leader Sunday November 30, 2008
While all the talk in Concord is about budget cuts, no one's talking about taxes. That will change -- soon. When the Legislature starts work in January, it will tackle bills to add or increase all sorts of taxes. Lawmakers have filed a dozen tax bills so far on gasoline, tobacco, bottles, beer, income (three of those), even fireworks. One resurrects the Legacy and Succession tax (better known as the death tax) that produced $25 million a year before it was repealed in 2002. Safety Commissioner John Barthelmes told lawmakers he'd like several bills to bump up a couple of fees his agency collects. Want to register your boat? Get ready to dig deeper to help the navigation safety fund that covers enforcement of boating speed limits…..
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By NORMA LOVE Associated Press Writer |
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ New Hampshire is cutting its budget by nearly another $60 million — reducing spending on everything from school aid construction to overtime.
Gov. John Lynch presented the areas to be cut Friday to the joint legislative Fiscal Committee, which approved them after a brief discussion. Lynch also recommended another $20 million in steps that will require legislative action when lawmakers convene next year.
Even with those steps, Lynch said another $75 million must be found to balance this year's budget.
"We are in the midst of an unprecedented global economic crisis," Lynch told the committee. "When we crafted the state budget 18 months ago, no one could have predicted the depths to which our nation's economy would sink."
Since February, Lynch and lawmakers have used a variety of spending cuts and revenue measures to deal with declining revenue. The latest cuts bring the total amount trimmed to about $150 million, roughly 5 percent of the $3.2 billion in spending from general tax sources in the two-year budget. The total budget is $10.3 billion when spending from federal and other sources is included.
Lynch characterized Friday's actions as another step and reiterated his pledge to balance the budget....
Note from the MCA: At the 11/13/2008 Selectmen meeting, Ed Charest reported on a session he attended at the recent NH Local Government Center annual conference about the economy and how it impacts NH. Mr. Charest indicated that NH overall was one of four states that probably will weather the recession far better than the other 46 states. Hmmm... We respectfully disagree. There are many indicators in this state that point to very serious problems, such as 17% of NH single family homes having negative equity. As Betsey Patten state in the article "We all have to do some belt-tightening and take a deep breath." Read on below....
By DAN TUOHY
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008
Brian J. Gottlob, of the Dover-based PolEcon Research, said towns and cities may see greater property tax delinquencies and a choke-hold on many smaller revenue sources, such as new car registrations. Towns and cities can better cope with the downturn than state government, but Gottlob said local leaders may not think so come budget season and its prickly political decisions.
"You'll probably suffer more of the angst," he said at the
Gottlob discussed the housing market,
The conference, "Local Government: Challenging Times, Creative Solutions," continues today and tomorrow at the Radisson Hotel Manchester. More than 650 municipal, school and county officials from around the state are attending. Topics include finance, land use, pension reform, and healthy, safe and secure school environments.
Local government officials are keenly aware of the challenges, said state Rep. Betsey Patten, R-Moultonborough, after listening to Gottlob's presentation. She sits on the House Municipal and County Government Committee and serves on her town's board of selectmen.
One of the first priorities, she said, is working to ensure the state does not shift any financial burdens to counties.
"We all have to do some belt-tightening and take a deep breath," Patten said.
While Gottlob says local government should not expect any help from the state, he anticipates the state looking to the federal government for financial assistance. Such a stimulus package for the states, now under discussion on Capitol Hill, could give
Gottlob expects six more months of declining state revenues, with a turnaround starting possibly in late spring of 2009.
Though he expressed an optimism about
Business access to bank credit has been hampered in
New unemployment claims are approaching levels of the last two recessions, and there appears to be no slowing in terms of home mortgage foreclosures in
He said 17 percent of
Compared to other states, there is not an especially high concentration of high-risk loans in
On the bright side, Gottlob said
"We're really on a precipice now," he said.
The Citizen Ocotber 29, 2008
By GAIL OBER
gober@citizen.com
As the national economy worsens, area economists and statisticians are keeping an eye on residential sales as an indicator of the overall health on
Countywide, recently released third quarter statistics show residential real estate sales in
According to information provided by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors indicated the number of sales dropped from 225 in the third quarter of 2007 to 177 in the third quarter for this year. On a positive note, the values of those third quarter
"There is some seasonality or certain sales that are associated with lakefront property in September," said New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority Housing Research Director Dan Smith who said the summer buying season generally ends in September, and he was not surprised that the overall values for Belknap County were higher than the rest of the state.
As to the number of sales, local economist Russ Thibeault of Applied Economic Research said he thinks many people are giving second thoughts to second-home purchases and he is not surprised to see the number of sales lower than last year even though value appears to be holding it own.
What concerns both Smith and Thibeault is the rising number of foreclosures.
Smith said the number foreclosures in the state could reach 3,500 — a 70 percent increase over last year. In
"Remember," said Smith. "There is a negative effect of foreclosure on property taxes."
He said when a property goes into foreclosure, somebody still owns it, so property taxes will be paid and are often recoverable from the next purchaser, but revenue streams can slow.
As to declining values, an overall declining value means a higher tax rate to maintain constant spending — as in the 9 cent jump in
Smith said he does not expect
The state, he said, has a much larger issue.
"When sales are off by 20 percent, as they have been the past three years, it represents a significant hit to the state for its revenue," said Smith.
WMUR recently reported the state's projected revenue for fiscal year 2009 could be as much as $250 million short. Gov. John Lynch has already trimmed $90 million from the state budget, but legislators may be forced to eliminate an additional $160 million in spending before June 2009.
By LAUREN R. DORGAN
Monitor staff
Concord Monitor June 18th, 2008
Lawmakers shrunk
The plan chops the budget of a statewide cancer-screening program to $500,000 from $4 million, requires the University System of New Hampshire to save $2.5 million and slices wiggle room from the Department of Education's catastrophic aid program for the 2008-09 school year.
The latest cuts, for fiscal 2009, emerged from a series of sessions in which Lynch met with department heads as a group to discuss what they came to call the "pain thresholds" of three levels of trims. Almost every state agency chipped into the bottom line, from $14.8 million from the Department of Health and Human Services, the biggest agency, to $1,000 from the state's Cosmetology and Barbers Board.
"We've had to make some tough choices," Lynch told legislators on the state's fiscal committee, saying that one of his chief aims was "protecting services to our most vulnerable citizens."
Some of those choices meant gutting the funding for programs Democrats touted last year...
June 5th, 2008
From: NH House Highlights
By Pamela Price
Our society is one of rules and laws which guide our existence within this democracy. Our government operates by rules, procedure, and tradition. The NH House is no exception. Last evening the House met in special session until late in the evening. All the rules and process which have long guided the way we do business were changed by a vote of the Democratic majority.......
