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Budget Committee (minutes)

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Note: Draft minutes are subject to corrections, additions, and deletions.
09-15-2026 Budget Committee Minutes Draft
Page 1 of 3
September 15, 2026
Chair Galanis opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m.
I.
Call to Order / Pledge of Allegiance / Attendance [-2:13]
Present:
Anne Marie Galanis, Chair
Mike Plouffe, Vice-chair
Alan Barclay
Scott Blair
Patrick Sheridan
Carleigh Beriont, Select Board Representative
Wendy Rega, SAU 90 Representative Alternate
Bob Ladd, Hampton Beach Village District Representative
Absent:
Fred Diana (Excused)
Chair Galanis requested a moment of silence in remembrance of Bill DiBiasio, a past member of
the Budget Committee 
II.
Approval of Minutes [-2:12]
1. June 16, 2026
Mr. Blair MOTIONED to APPROVE the minutes of June 16, 2026, SECONDED by Mr. Plouffe.
Motion passed 5-0-3 (Beriont, Ladd, Rega)
III.
Appointments [-2:11]
1. SAU90 Budget Update: Dr. Lois Costa and Mariah Curtis
Dr. Costa: Highlighted SAU 90 relationships with “The Cook Center”, the center supports parents
whose children are challenged; Susan Antico - 2026 Champion for Children. Curriculum work
consisted of “Science of Reading”, implementation of “Everyday Math” in K-5.  U.S. News and
World Report ranked Hampton Academy (grades 6-8) #13 out of 115 middle schools, Marston
School (grades 3-5) ranked #29 out of 211 elementary schools in New Hampshire. Ms. Curtis: As
of June 30, 2026, surplus revenue was $195,411; Expenditures $109,920 over; a total of $250,000
was returned to the town, SAU retainage was $559,938; the School Board voted to use a portion
of the surplus revenue to fix some roof issues.  Funding sources: Federal Funds $502,354, Food
Service Fund had a net loss of $20,131 and Special Education Trust Funds $192,250.  Dr. Costa:
The district’s goals: Goal 1-to maintain communication with all stakeholders; Goal 2-to maintain a
safe learning environment working with the School Resource Officer (SRO), Police and Fire
Departments, 2-day training for ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate); Goal 3-
facilitate learning with an emphasis on Science in all grades K-8.  Ms. Curtis: Budget for school
year 2026-2027: Operating $32,220,010, Long-term Maintenance $300,000, Total Appropriations
$32,520,010 reflecting a 5.17% increase from the 2025–2026 budget.  Dr. Costa: The budget is
impacted by the continued growth in student services; identified population of 173 students, 27 (4
at Sacred Heart) receive services.  Ms. Curtis: Anticipated budget drivers are increased cost for
specialized programs and student needs, Health Insurance, approved SEA / SESPA warrant
articles, gas and electric increases, other factors are HB 1300 statewide school district tax cap
question goes before voters in November, HB 564 new state law requiring the SAU budget to
appear as its own separate warrant article, HB 1815 narrows the state's defined funding
responsibility to basic instruction and targeted subsidies, shifting more costs to local taxpayers.

Note: Draft minutes are subject to corrections, additions, and deletions.
09-15-2026 Budget Committee Minutes Draft
Page 2 of 3
Marston School Roof Section G is not repairable, repair will cost $1,200,000, so there is a Warrant
Article for 2027, current roof is thirty years old, and the new roof will last forty years.
General Discussion.  The School Board will have two public hearings on the school’s budget.
Lunch prices are raised minimally every year by the School Board, a PLE tool that is provided by
the state to see what an average cost of a meal should be; every student is fed, no child is denied.
The net loss for food services is a combination of many factors, the cost of food, 16% of students
are on the reduced or free lunch program.  HB 564 will require a warrant article for a tax cap on
the school’s budget.  The difference in proficiency between the primary and middle schools is
because of many factors; the time of assessment, age of the student, there are probably different
answers for different students to explain the difference; it levels off when they enter high school.
The state has told us that only vegetation removal needs to be done to the dam, and with that, the
flow of the water will be fine, and the dam won’t have an issue. 
IV.
Committee Reports [-0:53]
Select Board.  Sel. Beriont: The Budget is running 3% under; next year’s budget is targeted to be
4.61% over this year’s budget; Parking lot revenue is down $250,000; Insurance costs are $89,000
over budget; reached agreement with NHDOT for installing lights for the new bridge, question as
to who will pay for it  is being discussed; working on the policy for the potential recovery of cost
for the collection of commercial trash, no vote has been taken; the Board held a goal setting session
(Infrastructure funding, Planning, Staffing & Recruitment, Budget, Strategy for DPW). Heritage
Commission is applying for an LCHIP grant for the Blacksmith Shop.
Village District Precinct.  Mr. Ladd: It was a complicated summer; the bridge construction
impacted the number of people who would have come; the Plovers delayed the fireworks for a
month; more Canadian visitors this year; no events were cancelled; the Light and Fire show will
end the season; development of the Casino will affect parking availability; loss of the Casino will
affect the economics of the beach.
Capital Improvement Plan Committee (CIP).  Mr. Barclay: Reviewed and made decisions on the
money articles, the dollar amount will be the same as last year, the plan is before the Planning
Board and will be before the Select Board in October.
Recreation Advisory Committee.  Chair Galanis: The two vehicles (bus and truck) from the 2026
warrant article have been purchased, a pavilion has been installed by the courts; purchased a
robotic mover for the Tuck Field; an ADA ramp constructed by the Eagles Scouts will be installed;
Revenues are down; conversation about raising fees; new playground equipment is needed for
Redington Playground.
V.
Old Business
VI.
New Business [-0:26]
1. July Financials July-2026
Chair Galanis: As mentioned the budget is 3% under; several items are over, such as the snow and
ice. 
2. Department Tours
Chair Galanis: Completed the tours of the Sau 90 and DPW on the 9th and will review the minutes
at the next meeting; the Fire Department (Uptown Station) is scheduled for September 28th and

Note: Draft minutes are subject to corrections, additions, and deletions.
09-15-2026 Budget Committee Minutes Draft
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the Police Department on September 30th, both will be noticed as a quorum will be present.  HB
1575 impacts this committee, the responsibility of the Default Budget’s for the town, the Schools
(2 budgets), and the Village District Precinct will be this committee; it appears that six public
hearings would be held at one meeting on those default budgets.
Mr. Ladd: The Precinct has never had a default budget, only an operating budget.
Chair Galanis: The NH Municipal Association will be having a workshop on the new municipal
budget law; members are encouraged to attend.
Chair Galanis: The committee has been invited to participate in SAU 90’s budget development
process, there are four Wednesday meetings (10/14, 10/21, 10/28, and 11/04); the intent is for this
committee to get a deep drive review of the school’s operating and default budgets.  SAU 90 will
still present their budgets to us.  RSA 32 does not preclude the committee from participating,
however, the Right to Know law would apply if a quorum of the committee attends, the meetings
would be posted and minutes are required.
General Discussion.  The committee during the budget season has enough meetings to attend;
watching the meetings would be more beneficial than attending; separation of powers, there is a
command structure for a reason, the committee does not belong there and should not attend.
Consensus of the committee is not to participate in the School Boards’s meeting. 
VII.
Closing Comments [-0:07]
Mr. Barclay: Very sad to hear about the passing of Bill; shared a story about Bill and coffee.
Mr. Blair: Sel. Beriont, thank you for all your efforts and am personally disappointed that I do not
have the chance to vote for you to represent us.
Mr. Sheridan: Would like to point out the excellent work the school board does; we need to sell the
budget versus nitpicking the budget apart; the department’s heads do amazing job at keeping costs
down.
Mr. Ladd: Also echo Mr. Barclay’s comment about Bill.  Bill was the moderator for the Precinct
and was the Precinct’s representative on the Master Plan Implementation Committee.  Would share
and echo Mr. Blairs’ comment about Sel. Beriont.  Sel. Beriont, you put in an enormous about of
time and effort into [the election], because you did not win, does not mean that you did not win,
you won because you ran, you went from total lack of name recognition to an extraordinary level
of name recognition, which is critical in these wider geographical elections.
Sel. Beriont: Thank you all, I appreciate that and hope I did Hampton proud.  Highlighted the
partnership of the federal, state, and town on the drainage project in the Gentian, Meadow Pond,
and Greene Street area, which addressed flooding, flooding is down about 70%.
Chair Galanis: The Select Board’s Goal Setting report will be given to the committee and the RSA
32 Municipal Budget law.  The next meeting will be on October 20th.
VIII.
Adjournment [-0:01]
Mr. Barclay MOTIONED to adjourn the meeting at 8:12 p.m., SECONDED by Mr. Blair.  Motion
passed 8-0-0.
Minutes Prepared by K. Ostman