The Keene City Council on Sept. 25 adopted an ordinance setting the city's 2025 property tax rate at 0.828978 per $100 of assessed value after a 4-1 roll-call vote.

The action matters because the city must adopt a tax rate before the fiscal year begins Oct. 1; council members debated whether to adopt the ceiling rate previously set or the lower no-new-revenue rate and discussed how state-required disclosure language can make changes in taxes appear different than they are.

Council members voted in favor of the ordinance despite one dissent. Bob Chapman voted yes; Councilman Easley voted no; Rob Foster, Councilman Shaw and Councilman Smith voted yes. Councilman Gutwa was recorded as not present for the final vote. Mayor Parish was present but did not cast a vote. The council's vote result was announced as "not unanimous, but it's passed 4 to 1."

The ordinance that council adopted was read into the record by the city secretary and describes an ad valorem tax rate of 0.828978 levied on all taxable property within the city for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2025, and ending Sept. 30, 2026. The meeting packet also noted the city's calculated no-new-revenue tax rate of 0.816257; council members said the no-new-revenue figure would have been an available alternative if they had chosen it.

Council discussion addressed two procedural and practical points: (1) state law requires specific disclosure language when a proposed rate exceeds the no-new-revenue rate, which can read as an "increase" even when individual taxpayers' bills may fall or rise because of property value changes; and (2) if the council had chosen a lower rate, staff would need to amend the approved budget to match the adopted tax rate.

A brief, heated exchange interrupted the meeting and the mayor called a short recess while a motion was pending. After the meeting resumed, council members completed the roll-call vote.

Practical next steps mentioned at the meeting: the city must finalize its fiscal-year budget to align with the adopted tax rate and meet statutory deadlines for adoption and notice. Council members referenced a Sept. 30 timing constraint for budget completion.

The ordinance text read at the meeting also references apportionment of the levy among municipal funds and providing for a sinking fund to service bonded debt; details on fund-level allocations are contained in the ordinance and the budget packet filed with the city.

Council members speaking during the item frequently noted taxpayer concerns about rising bills tied to property value changes and emphasized that the statutory wording required in notices can be confusing to residents.

No further substantive policy action on the tax rate was taken at the meeting beyond adoption of the ordinance.