The Contoocook Valley School Board voted in a split decision to retain 2.5% of its unassigned general fund reserves to safeguard the district against upcoming fiscal pressures, returning less money to taxpayers than a June policy amendment would have provided.
The vote reserves $1,174,025 for district contingencies and returns $4,458,537 to taxpayers to offset property taxes. ConVal district policy caps unassigned general fund retainage at 2.5% of the total budget, with remaining end-of-year balances returned to member towns.
Board members supporting the move pointed to several looming financial uncertainties, including a proposed local tax cap on the November ballot and the anticipated revenue loss following Francestown’s departure from the cooperative district next year.
“It’s the responsibility of the school board to protect the district from a predatory legislature, and that is unfortunately what we have,” Janine Lesser, Peterborough representative, said.
ConVal District Business Administrator Neil Cass voiced his support for this decision, given the district’s goal to stabilize the budget.
However, board members were divided over how to handle funds set aside earlier in the summer.
Unlike in past years, the board had to factor in encumbered funds saved in late June as a precaution against House Bill 1610, state legislation that proposed retroactively altering how school districts retain unspent funds, reducing maximum retention limits from 5.0% to 3.5%, and adding annual voting requirements. Gov. Kelly Ayotte eventually vetoed the bill.
On June 29, the board encumbered $1,076,123 with a specific stipulation: if HB 1610 failed to become law, the encumbered funds would automatically reduce the district’s allowable 2.5% retention cap by an equal amount — a move that would have returned additional money to taxpayers.
Nine board members ultimately supported overriding the June amendment to retain the full 2.5% reserve. Temple representative Jim Kingston strongly opposed the override, arguing the board should honor its earlier resolution, which would have applied the encumbrance against the cap, returning $5,534,660 to taxpayers and retaining $97,702.
“There is likely to be high budget volatility over the next couple of years as we go through the Francestown withdrawal. We know that, and we have told our taxpayers to expect that,” he said.
He argued the district and students were safe with the amount retained under the amendment from June.
“While we may be able to lessen the short-term see-saw of tax rates by retaining more funds, in the end, the tax rate still reaches the same level, and we deprive the taxpayer of the use of their own money in the interim,” Kingston said.
Ultimately, the board supported the higher retention rate with nine members in favor and two opposed, including Kingston and Curtis Hamilton.
The graph below compares how much the district needs to raise by taxing each participating town — including the local school tax and the Statewide Education Property Tax (SWEPT) under the 2.5% retention — with what it would have needed to raise under the 2.5% retention, minus encumbrances.
| Town | Fiscal Year 2026-2027 under 2.5% retention | Fiscal Year 2026-2027 under 2.5% retention minus encumbrances |
| Antrim | $6,986,646 | $6,817,404 |
| Bennington | $2,558,263 | $2,501,957 |
| Dublin | $4,916,952 | $4,819,297 |
| Francestown | $4,268,391 | $4,178,055 |
| Greenfield | $3,995,212 | $3,900,060 |
| Hancock | $5,129,567 | $5,024,089 |
| Peterborough | $15,411,461 | $15,071,575 |
| Sharon | $1,131,100 | $1,108,228 |
| Temple | $3,301,428 | $3,232,231 |
| Total | $47,729,021 | $46,652,897 |