What's New

The City of Portsmouth’s newly-established Public Art Review Committee (PARC) is pleased to announce the launch of the process to plan for, create, and install a signature work of art on City property at Peirce Island using funding from the City’s Percent-for-Art program.

Beginning January 3, 2024, the main entrance of the Hanover Parking Garage on Hanover Street will be closed until early April for construction as part of the overall garage renovation project. Fleet Street will be the primary entrance and exit during this phase of renovation. Please note that there may be longer than normal exit times.

Included in the main entrance work are access and efficiency improvements to the exit lanes, new payment software and equipment, and new pay-on-foot kiosks like those at the Foundry Place Garage.

The City of Portsmouth is delighted to announce that the new Skate Park on Route 33 is substantially complete, and the public is now welcome to enjoy the latest recreational facility. The contractor will be removing construction-site fencing in the next few days. A formal ribbon-cutting and Grand Opening ceremony is anticipated in Spring 2024.

Pro Portsmouth’s First Night™ 2024 taks place on Sunday, December 31, 2023 from 3 to 8 pm and includes ice sculpting in Market Square and a fireworks show at 7:30 pm at South Mill Pond.

The City of Portsmouth invites the public to attend the Inauguration for the Portsmouth City Council, Police Commission, Fire Commission and School Board to be held in Eileen Dondero Foley Council Chambers at City Hall on Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at 7 pm.

The Inauguration program will include the National Anthem sung by the Portsmouth High School Singers, the posting of colors by the Portsmouth Police and Fire Department Honor Guards, and an invocation by Reverend Jennifer Mazur of North Church.

As is their annual holiday tradition, the City’s Welfare Office is collecting gift cards for families who have older kids that are not typically served by other gift donation programs in the City.

On a providentially mild November afternoon the City of Portsmouth returned fragments of remains thought to date to between 1820 and 1950 to North Cemetery. Their gravesites had been discovered when the wall bordering the Maplewood Avenue site of the cemetery was being rebuilt. The sites were not marked and work stopped immediately when the graves were disturbed.  

The City Clerk announces that her office will start accepting applications on Monday, December 4, 2023 for the lottery to assign the twelve seasonal boat slips at Prescott Park for the 2024 season. The deadline for applying is Thursday, January 4, 2024. Go to the 2024 application package, 

The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration has approved the City’s property tax rate of $16.13 per $1,000 of valuation for Fiscal Year 2024. The tax rate is $0.93 more than Fiscal Year 2023, which results in the median single-family home valued at $480,100 paying $7,744 or $446 more this year. The newly approved tax rate will be reflected in the tax bills mailed in the next couple of weeks, with the first half due Thursday, December 28, 2023, and the second half due on Monday, June 3, 2024.

The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration has approved the City’s property tax rate of $16.13 per $1,000 of valuation for Fiscal Year 2024. The tax rate is $0.93 more than Fiscal Year 2023, which results in the median single-family home valued at $480,100 paying $7,744 or $446 more this year. The newly approved tax rate will be reflected in the tax bills mailed in the next couple of weeks, with the first half due Thursday, December 28, 2023, and the second half due on Monday, June 3, 2024.