Glossary

Words that come up in agendas, minutes, and their summaries, and what they mean.

abatement: A reduction or cancellation of a property tax bill, granted by the assessors, for example after an error in the assessment.
ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law on access for people with disabilities.
CBA: Collective bargaining agreement: a contract between the city or town and a union of its employees, setting pay and working conditions.
CDBG: Community Development Block Grant: federal money, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, for housing and neighborhood projects that serve low- and moderate-income residents.
CIP: Capital Improvement Program: the plan for buildings, roads, equipment, and other long-lasting purchases over the next several years, and how to pay for them.
COLA: Cost-of-living adjustment: a raise in pay or a pension to keep up with rising prices.
Committee of the Whole: The full council or board meeting as a committee, to discuss a matter before voting on it at a regular meeting.
consent agenda: Routine items, such as minutes and reports, voted on together in one motion without discussion. A member can ask to take any of them up separately.
first reading: The first time a council or board takes up an ordinance or other measure. It usually votes on it at a later meeting.
Mayor Pro Tem: The councilor the City Council chooses from among its members at the first meeting of each new Council, every two years, who presides when the mayor is absent. As used by: City Council.
mill rate: The property tax rate, in dollars for each $1,000 of a property's assessed value. A mill is a tenth of a cent.
non-public session: A part of a meeting closed to the public. New Hampshire's Right-to-Know Law (RSA 91-A) allows it only for certain reasons, such as buying or selling property, personnel matters, or labor negotiations.
ought to pass: A committee's recommendation that the full board or council approve an item. "Ought not to pass" recommends voting it down.
quitclaim deed: A deed in which the city or town gives up whatever claim it has to a property, such as one it took for unpaid taxes.
receive and file: To accept a letter, report, or other document into the record, without taking any other action on it.
RSA: Revised Statutes Annotated, New Hampshire's state laws.
Select Board: The board of three to five elected residents that runs a town between town meetings: it sets policy, hires the town manager or administrator, and calls town meeting. Also called the Board of Selectmen or the Selectboard.
tabled: Set aside by a vote, to take up later. A tabled item comes back when the board votes to take it off the table.
tax cap: The limit on increases in the city's, the schools' and the county's net spending, a charter amendment Laconia's voters approved in November 2005. Increases are limited to the change in the national Consumer Price Index, plus the year's new building permits less demolitions times the prior year's tax rate. The City Council can override it by a two-thirds vote.
TIF: Tax increment financing: a district where some of the new property tax from development is set aside, for public projects or for the development itself.
town meeting: A meeting of a town's voters that acts as its legislature: it votes on the budget, local laws, and the other articles of the warrant. In a representative town meeting, elected members vote.
variance: Permission from the zoning board to use or build on a property in a way the zoning doesn't allow, such as closer to a lot line, because of a hardship particular to the property.
warrant article: One item on the warrant, the list of what a town meeting will vote on. Each article is voted on separately.
WRBP: Winnipesaukee River Basin Program, the state-owned sewer system, a bureau of the NH Department of Environmental Services, that serves Laconia and other Lakes Region communities, which pay for it and have an advisory board.
ZBA: Zoning Board of Adjustment.