Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
The financial health of Nashua Fire Rescue is critical to ensure that the department can continue to provide
fire services at an acceptable level to the community. To assist the department in determining how its
financial policies have impacted its financial stability, a data-driven model was developed to represent these
policies fairly and consistently. The models offer an overview of the current state of Nashua Fire Rescue.
In this section, background information provided by Nashua Fire Rescue and the City of Nashua is used to
describe the department's historical and current financial condition. This includes a multi-year historical
review of revenues and expenses. This analysis relies solely on the financial documentation provided by
Nashua Fire Rescue and the City of Nashua. Those sources provided include general fund budgets, revenues,
and fund balances for 2016-2020.
Historical Revenue
Nashua Fire Rescue is funded through the city’s General Fund. The primary source of funding is property
taxes, followed by motor vehicle revenues. The city’s unassigned general fund balance at the end of FY 2019
was $30.0 million, an increase of $900,000 from the prior fiscal year.
The city continues to grow, reinvent, and strengthen its economic health by being responsive to the ever-
changing market trends. Nashua remains an economic hub and jobs-generator for the region.
The city uses a multi-year model to plan for future budget periods. The city manages its capital budget
process over a six-year time horizon. It appears that Nashua Fire Rescue pays for equipment through a
mixture of cash and bonds based on needs.
The city has $115.1 million of authorized unissued debt. Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings
affirmed their AAA rating and stable outlook on the City. All these things will benefit Nashua Fire Rescue as
cash requirements continue to rise.
The current General Fund Budget for the City of Nashua is approximately $270,000,000. The size of the
budget has shown stable growth from 2016-2020. Growing at an average rate of 2.52%, 2018 brought a spike
in growth that is shown in the following figure.
Figure 41. Nashua General Fund Budget Growth, FY 2017-2020
ee ee
1.25% 4.28% 3.53% 1.03%
From 2016 through 2020, the General Fund appropriation for Nashua Fire Rescue has also increased. The
annual appropriation has grown at an average annual rate of 2.97% per year. In 2018, there was a greater
increase in appropriations than average. This results in the bump in the following figure. It appears that
Nashua Fire Rescue has experienced consistent growth year to year in appropriations.
ESC) Emergency Services
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