Bernie Marvin
Superintendent Dolores Fox (Courtesy Photo)
Town of Haverhill Municipal Offices (Courtesy Photo)
North Haverhill, NH – A public statement issued on social media late last week from SAU #23 Superintendent Dolores Fox indicates that because of the threshold reached by voters during the November 3, 2026, election, the (Ballot Question #2) SAU Budget Cap will be required for the next two fiscal years, 2027-28 and 2028-29.
But the remaining part of the proposal, the local tax cap on school appropriations, failed to attain the 60 percent vote required for the SAU 23 towns of Piermont and Warren. In those towns, the local tax cap effort failed. That means that in both Piermont and Warren, although the tax cap proposal received more than 50 percent of the affirmative votes, it was not enough for the required 60 percent level to pass.
The towns that attained the 60 percent affirmative vote were thereby able to invoke a local tax cap, those towns included Bath, Benton and Haverhill. Ms. Fox wrote that to move forward with budget planning, her office is “Waiting for clear and exact guidance from the New Hampshire Department of Education and the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration.”
As Ms. Fox explained in her Facebook releases, “Ballot Question #2 Update - Thank you to all who voted in Tuesday's election. Voter turnout was strong, a sign of a thriving democracy.
“Ballot Question #2 asked voters to consider adopting a local cap on the amount of money raised by each town for the school district and the answer to the same question applied to a cap of not more than 6% of total appropriations of all towns in an SAU for SAU administrative costs. A 60% (3/5ths majority was required to pass.)
“Results were mixed across SAU #23 with some towns adopting the local cap and some towns not. Overall, the number of voters across the towns of SAU #23 (Bath, Benton, Haverhill, Piermont, and Warren) reached the 60% YES threshold to require the SAU budget cap to go into place for the next 2 fiscal years 2027-28 and 2028-29.
“Towns that also have a local cap on appropriations are Haverhill Cooperative, Bath, and Benton. Warren and Piermont do not.
“To move forward with budget planning, we are waiting for clear and exact guidance from the New Hampshire Department of Education and New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration.
“I encourage SAU 23 community members to attend their local school board and SAU board meetings to find out more about the budget and budget process.
Bath - Monday Nov. 16, 2026, @ 6 Pm at BVS
Benton - Wednesday Nov. 18, 2026 @ 6 PM at Benton Town Hall
Piermont - Tuesday Nov. 17, 2026 @ 6:30 PM at PVS
“SAU - Tuesday Dec. 1, 2026 @ 5:30 PM at HCMS
(*Including dates for Haverhill Cooperative and Warren meetings preceded deadline)
Ballot tally sheet for SAU 23 towns”