City Council adopts FY2027 budget

posted on 4/3/2026

The City Council unanimously adopted the city's fiscal year 2027 budget during a special meeting on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, following a final budget workshop session and nearly two months of budget review.

The adopted budget totals $227,344,804 across all funds, an 8.8% increase from the current FY2026 adopted budget. Of this, the General Fund accounts for $182,566,689, a 7.1% increase from the current adopted budget. The General Fund includes $65,543,012 for city operations, $89,172,779 for School Department operations, $15,295,693 for debt service, and $12,555,205 to be collected for the county tax payment. 

The final budget is $140,161 below the city's tax cap limitation. The initial proposed budget in February exceeded the tax cap by $877,273, with the School Department $1,912,546 above the school portion of the tax cap formula, partially offset by the city portion being $1,035,273 less than its portion of the tax cap formula.

The adopted budget is projected to result in a property tax rate of $20.21 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, an increase of 53 cents over the current rate of $19.68. A homeowner in Dover with a property valued at the city’s average of $527,204 would see a property tax increase of about $278. The official tax rate will be certified by the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration later this year.

Included in the City Council's adjustments was an increase of $500,000 in the use of Downtown Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District funds to a total of $3,614,000. The City Council transferred $1,831,515 of Downtown TIF Funds to the School Department's General Fund budget, after reducing the transfer to the City's General Fund to $1,782,485, a reduction of $1,331,515 from the proposed budget amount.

The new fiscal year begins July 1, 2026, and runs through June 30, 2027.

For a complete guide to the FY2027 proposed budget, including meeting videos, documents, presentations, and the budget book, visit the city's Budget Revealed FY2027 online resource at www.dover.nh.gov/government/open-government/budget-revealed/fy2027-budget/.