Spend, Spend, Spend

Now that election season has ended, the Mayor is aggressively jamming through legislation and spending. The Mayor cancelled city business for 3 months, while he actively campaigned door to door, pitching candidates and a Charter change to take control of the appointment of the police commissioners. Now, it’s back to business.

Last Tuesday evening's Board of Aldermen meeting was packed with bonds and legislation brought forward by the Mayor. Twelve new items were introduced including $7 million dollars of bonded projects and the spending of $3.65 million of FY2021 unanticipated revenue. 

Pay attention Nashua! This city has bonded very large projects and has provided few updates on costing. The Performing Arts Center went from $15 million to $23 million with more increases on the way. The new middle school was approved for bonding in 2019 for $118 million, cost increases are eminent and the DPW facility bonded in 2019 has gone from $10 million to $15.1 million.

See a pattern? COVID and supply chain issues have driven construction and material costs through the roof and created labor shortages. Project costs are unpredictable and rising rapidly. The City continues spending as though nothing significant is happening. Property owners will be shouldering these cost overruns.

The City should adopt a resolution that bonds not issued in the year the approvals were granted will expire and will be brought back to the Board for approval and public hearing for the next budget cycle. Project costs should be reviewed and updated if no action has been taken in a year. In the last 12 years, our economy has seen wide fluctuations and asset shifts. Our elected officials are not safeguarding our money!