Executive Director Message

Happy Town Meeting month! Most of our towns will hold their town meetings on Tuesday, March 12. We are wishing you all snow free, sunny meetings with plenty of debate, discussion, and voting on the many issues that will be on your warrants, from A(ppropriations) to Z(oning amendments)! 

Town meeting season also means the production of your annuals report—and ours, too. NHMA’s 2023 Annual Report can be found on pages 25-32 of this issue of Town & City. We hope you enjoy learning about the many successes and initiatives we were able to achieve with your support and engagement, and we’re looking forward to another great year of serving New Hampshire’s cities and towns.  

For all local officials elected this year—whether returning or brand-new to serving on municipal government—we encourage you to attend one of our two Local Officials Workshops this spring. This annual workshop, which local officials can attend at no cost on April 3 or May 7 (virtual or in person at our offices), will provide an overview of important municipal law topics; an electronic copy of the “bible” on municipal law, Knowing the Territory; and introduce new local officials to our two fabulous legal services attorneys, who are available to local officials by phone or email Monday – Friday. Learn more about this service by referring to our Legal Services FAQ. You can register for these, and any of our workshops, by visiting our Events Calendar.  

Want to get more involved with NHMA? We are very close to starting our 2024 legislative policy process, which officially kicks off on April 5 with our Organization Day meeting. We are still recruiting volunteers to serve on our three legislative policy committees. These committees will review legislative policy proposals submitted by local officials and make recommendations on those policies, which will go to the NHMA Legislative Policy Conference in September. All NHMA’s policies and principles are adopted by our members.  

Each of the committees deals with a different set of municipal issues. The committees and their subject areas are as follows (when you contact us, please indicate your first and second choices for a committee assignment.):  

• Finance and Revenue – budgeting, revenue, tax exemptions, current use, assessing, tax collection, retirement issues, education funding. 
• General Administration and Governance – elections, Right-to-Know Law, labor, town meeting, charters, welfare, public safety. 
• Infrastructure, Development, and Land Use – solid/hazardous waste, transportation, land use, technology, environmental regulation, housing, utilities, code enforcement, economic development. 

If you are a municipal official in a city or town and are interested in serving on one of the policy committees, please contact the Government Affairs staff at 603-224-7447 or governmentaffairs@nhmunicipal.org ASAP! 

Spring is right around the corner! 

Margaret M.L. Byrnes, NHMA Executive Director