Entries by Mitchell Scacchi

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Median home price hitting $500k signals urgent need for land-use reform

New Hampshire’s median home price hit an unprecedented half-million dollars in March, just two years after passing $400,000 for the first time, underscoring the urgency of making changes to local land-use regulations.  The change represents “a 16 percent drop in affordability from a year ago,” according to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors (NHAR) report. […]

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As Manchester bus ridership collapsed in the last decade, city spending on bus service soared

In the last decade, ridership on Manchester Transit Authority (MTA) buses fell by 38.6%, yet city taxpayer spending on the MTA increased by 38.2% above the rate of inflation, an analysis by the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy shows. As Mayor Jay Ruais and city aldermen search for savings in a stressed city budget, […]

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For Education Freedom Accounts, capping income at 400% of poverty would exclude these moderate-income families

As legislators consider making more Granite State families eligible for the popular Education Freedom Account (EFA) program, there appears to be some disagreement about what types of families would be able to use the program depending on where the income limits are set. Currently, only families whose income does not exceed 350% of the federal […]

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Manchester considers first housing-friendly zoning changes to come from major zoning review

Despite being the main metropolitan area in the state, the City of Manchester’s zoning ordinances are surprisingly hostile to the construction of new multifamily housing. As a review of the city’s zoning ordinances championed by former Mayor Joyce Craig continues, aldermen are considering three relatively small changes unanimously approved by the Planning Board and brought […]

Manchester school spending since 2020 goes way up as enrollment falls

The Manchester school district’s proposed 2025 budget continues the city’s trend of spending more to teach fewer students.  The district is asking for $232,227,530 for its 2024–25 school year budget. That’s an increase of $49,175,526, or 26.9%, since 2020–21. Even after adjusting for inflation,* the increase is still $16,967,892.80, or 7.9%, over the last four […]