Ward Meeting, Property Taxes, Bike Park and More

February 2026 Ward 7 Newsletter

There will be a Ward Meeting Tuesday March 3 from 7:00-8:30 pm at the West St. Ward House (41 West St.).  All are welcome to attend.  There is much to talk about—property taxes, property assessments and more.  Cara Meeker, Ward 7 School Board Member will join me. 

Property Taxes

The School Board and the City Council share a common challenge in maintaining essential services while managing property tax increases.  The choices will be difficult.  There will be tendencies to polarize different points of view.  We might recall the advice of the Braver Angels folks at our September meeting on Skills for Disagreeing Better .  We can blame others (e.g. the State for downshifting expenses to towns and cities while cutting education funding) but the real power is in our own actions. 

I can think of two key elements of how we might act:

1. The city must do its part to moderate budget increases while prioritizing essential staff and services, and

2. We can join forces with other cities and towns to advocate for a fairer state-wide school funding formula. 

To this second action, Ward 7 resident John Tobin, a long-time advocate for adequate school funding, is proposing that municipal officials speak up and create a bipartisan, state-wide coalition of cities and towns to demand fairer school funding.  John summarizes the issue: 

As New Hampshire towns and cities go through another annual budget process, both the

financial hardship and the civic conflict caused by rising property taxes are getting worse.

Because the largest portion of local expenditures is for public schools, the State’s continuing

failure to provide sufficient school funding greatly aggravates this property tax crisis. For

decades, the Legislature has been locked in partisan division about this issue, with the result

that local officials struggle to provide essential services while property taxpayers face greater

burdens than ever before.

This unfair and destabilizing system affects school districts and municipalities across the state,

regardless of the party affiliation of local officials and legislators. In the greater Concord area,

both parties have electoral strengths and weaknesses. But many municipalities, regardless of

their partisan leanings, must grapple with the lower-than-average per pupil value of their

property tax base. Concord, Hopkinton, Allenstown, Pembroke, Pittsfield, Franklin, and

Boscawen all fit into this category, even though their legislative representation varies greatly.

Looking to other parts of the state, Derry, Manchester, Nashua, Keene, and Rochester have

different partisan orientations, but they also all have below-average property wealth per pupil,

so their taxpayers must dig deeper (pay taxes at higher rates) to provide the same level of

services that are available in wealthier communities. More than 70% of the State’s property

taxpayers and more than 70% of public-school students live in municipalities with below

average property wealth, and they all struggle with the difficult choices that Concord and our

neighbors grapple with.

Working to build a broad bipartisan coalition for fair school funding in NH won’t solve our local budget woes, but in the longer game, it is one piece of what is needed.

Property Re-assessments

As you may know, the city is undertaking a once-every-five-years complete property reassessment.  This will align our property values with current market information.  How will this impact home and business owners?

The specifics will not be available until this fall, but we might predict:

1.        Given the rise in values for residential property, the ratio of values between commercial and residential property will fall.

2.        Approximately 1/3 of properties will see an increase in values, 1/3 will stay the same, and 1/3 will see a decrease.

3.        Homes with lower values (e.g. mobile homes and smaller, older homes) will see the largest percentage increase in values.

Note:  Increase in property taxes is a result of (city, school, county and state) budget decisions.  The budget needs are divided by total valuation of all properties in Concord (currently a bit over $5 billion).  Increases in property value do not necessarily mean an increase in property taxes unless the budgets increase.  See summary below:

Affordable Housing

Many individuals who work in Concord find it difficult to get affordable housing.  This is especially true for workers in lower paid sectors (e.g, hospitality, retail, non-profit).  For those interested in learning how more affordable house may impact city budget the recent report from Housing Action NH on Municipal budgets and housing development may be of interest.  The key takeaways include:

• Statewide, new housing construction generates a net property tax fiscal benefit to communities of $1,711 per home (multi-family rentals $7,026 in net value per acre (VPA), single family homes $533 net value per acre, and condos $10,027 per acre).  Data for Concord from the 2020 study by Urban3 for NH Housing is shown in the picture below (VPA = dollar value per acre).  The full report is HERE.

• No correlation between more kids and local property tax increases.  This is because the vast majority of education costs are fixed costs (building, energy, salary, benefits, etc.), which do not materially change when additional kids are added to a school district.

• Affordable housing projects pay property taxes.  They either enter into a payment in lieu of taxes agreement (RSA 72:23-n) with the municipality or pay property taxes like other properties in town.

  
  

  

  
  

Community Concordia

Community Concordia, a mutual help and neighborliness initiative started by Ward 7 resident Rene West is working on a new project:  Yard Angels.  It’s an effort to connect people to lend a helping hand with small tasks or to receive help if you need it.  Please check it out.

Fraud Awareness

Thanks to Interim Chief Barrett Moulton and his Concord PD colleagues for briefing us at the December Resident meeting on Fraud Awareness.   Artificial intelligence is super-charging the development of ever more sophisticated scam schemes.  It behooves us all to review key tips on keeping our families and loved ones safe.  Please download, read, and share the helpful guide prepared by the Concord PD (Fraud Awareness Guide).

Bike Park in Martins Field

A new Bike Park is being planned and may end up sited in Martins Park.  The city has reviewed options at more than five sites in town and Martin Park seems to be the most practical.  There have been multiple public meeting with lots of support and also various concerns (noise, vernal pools, etc.).  A more complete summary of meetings and issues to date can be found HERE.  Brian Sartorelli is the Ward 7 rep on the Recreation & Parks Advisory Committee (RPAC). 

The next Recreation & Parks Advisory Committee meeting is Thursday Feb. 19 at 5:30 PM in the Senior Lounge at the City-wide Community Center (14 Canterbury Rd.).   We are hoping RPAC will agree on a site recommendation and forward it to the City Council.  Approval of a site by the City Council would allow the bike community to proceed with fundraising and design specifications.  Final designs will have to come back to City Council in the future for final approval.  

Automated Trash Collection             

A two-year pilot to test a new automated trash collection system will begin July 29, 2026 for selected pilot sites.  The pilot routes for Ward 7 will include Clinton St., the college streets, and Silk Farm Road (see map).  New trash and recycling carts will be distributed to pilot route homes.  All residents are invited to check out the new system on the city’s Automated Collection web page.  The purple bag system will continue and the city will be testing an audit system to ensure compliance.  Linda Zollo, Ward 7 resident, is a member of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee with me and is helping to advise on the procedures.

Pilot Routes for Automated Collection Highlighted in Yellow

Homelessness

The Committee for Concord’s Plan to End Homelessness (Homelessness Steering Committee) has hired a full-time Project Director at no cost to the city from grants and donations.  Working Groups have been organized on Housing, Encampments, Social Determinants, and Data/Communications.   

We are grateful to have crafted a Cold Weather Emergency Operations Plan to provide critical warming spaces during days of extreme cold weather.  A major shout-out should go to The Friendly Kitchen and the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness for flexing their hours to insure homeless neighbors have a warm refuge during very cold days. 

The Op Ed piece I wrote for the Jan. 7 Concord Monitor is the first of a series of essays on how we might better lead and govern our community-wide effort to end homelessness.  If you didn’t see it, please give it a look.  I’d welcome feedback and comments.

Thanks for reading.

Warm regards,

Jim Schlosser, Ward 7 City Councilor

781-879-2089 jim4concord@gmail.com jim4concord.com

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