Executive Director Message

The information contained in this article is not intended as legal advice and may no longer be accurate due to changes in the law. Consult NHMA's legal services or your municipal attorney.

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the holidays and are ready for the year ahead.

As we head into 2025, we're both grateful for another successful year behind us and excited to work with you in the year to come.

Let’s start off with the fun stuff: We had a blast with many of you at our Annual Conference! For the first time in recent memory (perhaps ever), NHMA’s conference was held in October—and with a Halloween theme, which culminated with a Murder Mystery Dinner event. Thank you to all the members, presenters, exhibitors, and sponsors who made this event possible.

At the conference, we also announced a new partnership with UNH Carsey School of Public Policy that allows NHMA members to receive an educational discount of up to 20% on master’s programs. Check out pages 19 and 21 for more information on this new member benefit. Other additional member benefits coming in 2025 include free digital publications and a Women’s Leadership Institute in partnership with Primex and the Municipal Management Association of NH; plus, we’ll be working to implement our strategic plan.

On the legislative side, NHMA will welcome a new team of local government advocates, who will be responsible for advocating for you based on the new Legislative Policies and Principles adopted by the members this year. Although NHMA staff are at the legislature advocating for you during the session, we rely heavily on local officials to contact their legislators or testify at legislative hearings to assist in passing legislation that comports with our member-adopted policies and defeating legislation that does not. As is the trend over the past several years, legislation has again been filed to prevent organizations like NHMA from advocating for their members—an effort that undoubtedly seeks to quiet the voice of local government so that there is less resistance to passing unworkable or costly legislation for local governments and their taxpayers. And with
the state prepping for cuts to spending in the upcoming budget cycle, the voice of local government will be more crucial than ever, as we work together to preserve state funding, including the meals and rooms tax distribution and road and bridge aid.

To stay in the know throughout the session, don’t forget to register to receive the Legislative Bulletin, sent weekly during the session, and subscribe for live updates on bills through our bill tracker, FastDemocracy. Of course, legal services is also ramping up for another year of training and providing guidance, including our annual Moderators Workshops in January and February and a slew of town meeting-related legal inquiries leading up to March 11, the date on which most towns hold their annual meetings. After town meeting, be on the lookout for our annual revision of Knowing the Territory, the “bible” of municipal law, and join us for a Local Officials Workshop if you can. Other training opportunities throughout the year include A Hard Road to Travel, the Right-to-Know Law, training for municipal trustees, code enforcement, the Land Use Law Conference—just to name a few.

2025, here we go!

P.S. Look out for NHMA’s 2024 Annual Report in the March/April issue of Town & City!

P.P.S. 2025 dues invoices were uploaded to each municipality’s member portal in October. We ask that you remit payment—or let us know when payment will be made (e.g., after town meeting) — by January 31. Thank you for yourmembership with NHMA!