The Peterborough Select Board approved lowering the town’s segment of the property tax rate to $8.66 per $1,000 of value, down 84 cents from last year, to address rising homeowner costs.
Including the county tax and local and state education taxes, Peterborough property owners will pay an overall $21.38 per $1,000 of value this year, a 4.34% decrease from 2025. In addition to the town’s contribution, local and state education taxes decreased, while county tax rose by seven cents.
“I mean, everything has doubled for people, and this is fantastic news,” Select Board Chair Tyler Ward said. “People would really appreciate this break here.”
With the median Peterborough home valued at $472,109 at the end of September, according to Zillow, the approximate property tax bill on a home valued at that amount is $10,094.
The board decided to pull $750,000 from the town’s fund balance, minus unpaid taxes, to decrease the proposed tax rate from $9.23 to $8.66. That accounts for half of the balance, which the board hopes will work as a buffer.
Finance Director Lilli Gilligan said the town’s revenue increase came from the Hancock Police contract, updates to ambulance contracts with other towns and providing Sharon with fire, police and recycling and bank interest.
Additionally, the town-wide reassessment in 2025 lowered the tax rate because assessed values increased.
In the past, the board has used the fund balance to keep the town’s property tax contributions flat. When the board mentioned its goal of staying flat, Gilligan said that won’t be possible next year.
“Our gas and diesel costs have gone up 30%, and that’s unbudgeted this year, so we’re already concerned about how we’re getting through this winter,” Town Administrator Nicole MacStay said.
Gilligan noted at the end of last year, the town spent all but $35,000 of the budget, which comes to 0.2%.
“We cannot do that again,” she said.
MacStay advised the board that if it plans to keep a flat budget for next year, it’ll have to consider cutting community services. She said the town’s contribution to the school district will also increase next year because the assessed valuation will include the West Peterborough tax increment financing district
“That may have to be an option, considering the way inflation is, the way people are hurting right now,” Ward said.
Granite Street culvert replacement
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation and Fuss & O’Neill, an engineering firm, presented preliminary plans to replace the culvert under Granite Street with a 54-inch tunnel liner pipe in approximately two years. The current historical culvert will be filled in.
JoAnn Fryer, from Fuss & O’Neill, explained this atypical solution for the decrepit historical culvert will accommodate the steep slope, avoid sewer impacts and allow faster installation. At most, she said construction could take three months, with traffic restricted to one-way for most of the project.
The pipe will move the current culvert’s path farther from the residence at 18 Granite St., allowing the state to solve the unrepairable culvert without impacting nearby homes.
Construction will most likely take place in the summer or fall of 2028.
NHDOT representative Kirk Mudgett said the construction process has not been fully investigated, but another public hearing will be held next winter with more finalized plans.
The detailed plans presented at the select board meeting were not sent in time for publication.