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Budget trends raise questions

By Staff | May 16, 2013

Mayor Donnalee Lozeau unveiled her 2014 Nashua budget plan to the public this week. At first glance, the proposal seems reasonable. However, a deeper look at the city’s recent budgets reveals some troubling trends.

As it stands, the mayor’s proposal would increase spending $5.5 million, or 2.3 percent, over the current budget. That rate of increase is fair, especially considering the rise in insurance premiums, utility rates and other fixed costs largely out of the city’s control.

In her presentation Tuesday night to the Board of Aldermen, Lozeau noted that nearly two-thirds of the budget hike is due to a 26 percent increase in state retirement system costs.

Spikes like that, though, don’t let the city off the hook completely for its record of spending hikes.

Since 2008, when Lozeau took office, city spending has jumped up more than 10 percent, by about $24 million. In her first year, city spending totaled $221.8 million.

This year, the budget reached $245.6 million, and, if Lozeau’s 2014 proposal passes, the spending total would rise to $251.1 million.

Put another way, if the mayor’s spending plan is approved, city spending will have increased by $29.3 million, or 13 percent during the six years Lozeau has served as the city’s chief executive.

Over the same time, city tax rates also have gone up as people in Nashua know too well. In Lozeau’s first year in office, the local property tax rate was $14.29 per $1,000 of assessed value, combining municipal and school taxes. The rate reached $17.95 this year, and under Lozeau’s budget, it could rise another 3 percent next year.

Those rate hikes don’t mean tax bills have gone up by that amount. That depends on property values, among other factors. But, on the whole, people have been paying more in taxes at the same time their income has remained sluggish as the economy slowly recovers.

Nashua officials have attempted to curb spending to some extent over recent years by asking workers to increase their health care contribution by 10 percent. These are important and appreciated reductions, but Lozeau and other city officials need to look deeper for the sake of city taxpayers.

Caught in the recent recession, many household incomes have not risen at the same rate as city spending. Some incomes haven’t increased at all.

With that in mind, it’s the city’s responsibility to look out for it’s citizens. In shaping the budget, especially now as we continue to feel the effects of the recession, city officials must make sure they are charging only for the most essential programs and services.

This push to cut spending won’t always come from the taxpayers themselves. As much as we take issue with rising taxes, we are always the first to complain when our streets aren’t plowed following a snow storm.

The effort must instead come from city leaders, whose primary responsibility is to provide for city residents while not taxing them out of their homes.

The baseline expectation heading into every budget season should be to keep spending level at least and, even better, to cut a little off the top.

Local families manage to live within their means. City officials should do the same.

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