Special Board of Aldermen Public Hearing Page 16
the different pages and the introduction, it’s really like a management by objective model. | like the
fact | can see what the city has done and | like to see where we want to go. So what’s kind of in
charge of leading this? | really want to commend them for that because | haven’t seen many budgets
like this in Nashua. I’ve seen ledgers before and a narrative in the beginning but this really tells me
the story of what you’ve done this year and where you want to go. Thank you for that. | just want to
say one quick thing about the 1/10" of 1 percent that was set aside for participatory $200,000 to allow
the citizens to actually get involved and spend some money. | really think that’s a fantastic idea and |
don’t understand why a few people are so up in arms about it. This has been tried as Mayor
Donchess said in other places. It’s a great experiment to kind of take some decision making and
putting it to the citizens. It really could increase community engagement. | wanted to let you know
that a lot of people do like that idea. | love that idea. I’ve read in places where it worked. If we don’t
get that this year, think about trying to get it next year because | think it can really have a lot of
positive benefits. Thank you for the people who spend so much time on creating this budget. | think
it's fantastic how you laid it out and everything. Thank you.
Chairman Dowd
Thank you. Anyone else for the Mayor’s Office?
Joe Pacello
Good evening. Joe Pacello, 38 Raleigh Drive, Nashua, NH. Three quick questions | guess. One is
the $9, 10, 11 million or whatever it was that was carved out of the budget to create the gap under the
spending cap. Was that taken out of the base as well?
CFO Griffin
No that wasn’t taken out of the base.
Joe Pacello
So why wouldn’t that be taken out of the base?
CFO Griffin
It's never been done since I’ve been here and | don’t think it was done prior to me being here. The
base is approved by the Board of Aldermen annually and that was the starting point.
Joe Pacello
So what year is the base year? Forgive me I’m new at this. | would just assume that if the equation
you would take the money out of the base as well as the new year. That’s just a question.
CFO Griffin
The direct answer to your question is the base was created by the Board of Aldermen’s approval of
the fiscal 2017 budget.
Joe Pacello
Wasn't the base established 10 or 15 years ago?
