HB372

HB 372 will increase costs for municipalities. If improvement costs cannot be bundled into leases, either the improvements will have higher upfront costs, or will not be able to be made. Deferred improvements can mean greater expense down the road. Energy improvements that are not made result in higher energy costs. Our towns are being squeezed by educational costs, possible federal freezes, potentially higher costs due to tariffs. We do not need to impose this different accounting system that will place another burden on our cities and towns.

I am concerned that implementing this bill will increase costs for municipalities if they are not able to bundle costs of equipment and related building improvements as part of their lease agreements, leading to higher upfront costs or making it harder to get financing for up-grades when making necessary improvements.

I believe this bill could have a chilling effect on municipal energy projects, which commonly include equipment leasing that bundles the cost of the equipment and any related building improvements as part of the lease agreement. If municipalities cannot bundle improvement costs into their leases, they’d have to find alternative ways to finance these improvements, which could lead to higher upfront costs or make it harder to get these projects approved.

Why would you want to limit municipalities from being able to bundle improvement costs into their leases, forcing them to find alternative, likely more expensive ways to finance these improvements? Please let municipalities keep this important budgeting capability.

Governor Sununu vetoed this last year. Municipalities should be encouraged to purchase clean energy.

Lest history repeat itself

This bill would hurt energy performance contracting and energy efficiency projects which help our municipalities and schools save money by reducing their utility costs and tax payer burdens with budget neutral solutions that address deferred maintenance costs.