Press Releases/What’s New

The City of Portsmouth Department of Public Works (DPW) marked the arrival of spring with Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day, which served 254 participants, and with the annual Earth Day, and Arbor Day celebrations. DPW offers suggestions and reminders for the seasonal yard and garden cleanup and notice of a rechargeable battery disposal update.

The US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported recently that arts and cultural enterprises contribute $1 trillion to the national economy and, in New Hampshire, arts and culture make up 3.1 percent of the State’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Since coming through the pandemic, Portsmouth has turned a spotlight on ways to protect, preserve, and foster the arts.

The Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Proposed Budget for all appropriated City funds was distributed to the City Council on April 28, 2025. This budget document and accompanying interactive user guide are posted to the City website.

The release of the FY26 Proposed Budget marks the start of presentations to the City Council and the public. The City offers multiple opportunities for the public to comment on the budget, including:

Portsmouth Fire Chief William McQuillen has enlisted the City’s help in the "Light the Night for Fallen Firefighters" program. The Memorial Bridge is illuminated with red lights during the week of April 27 - May 4, 2025 to honor the fallen and their families. Local firefighter Charles A. Gallant, a firefighter from the Rye Fire Department, was added to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Roll of Honor this year.

The Portsmouth NH City Council has voted to accept the recommendations of the Housing Blue Ribbon Committee and the City Trustees of Trust Funds to establish a Below Market Rate Housing Trust Fund. The Trust will support the City Council’s goal to enhance the supply of housing choices, specifically the supply of below market rate housing options and will be overseen by the Trustees of the Trust Funds.

Following the pandemic, the City of Portsmouth NH created the COVID Recovery Task Force (CRTF) to work with the City Health Department to address the needs identified by local health and human service agencies among vulnerable populations most impacted by COVID-19. One of the recommendations of the CRTF was that the Community Resource Network (CRN) directory of service agencies be converted from paper to a user-friendly, online resource searchable by service need.

City of Portsmouth NH Plans Arbor Day Ceremony on April 25, 2025

Eversource has informed the City of Portsmouth NH Department of Public Works (DPW) that they have begun the seasonal Citywide utility line clearance pruning efforts with their contractor Lewis Tree Service. The work is expected to continue through September on weekdays between 8 am and 3:30 pm. Flaggers will be in place to direct traffic when single lane closures are needed. 

The Department of Public Works Water Division begins its seasonal flushing of fire hydrants and water mains on Monday, April 14, 2025. The flushing will take place at various locations, Monday through Thursday, between 7 pm and 11 pm, and is expected to take six weeks to complete.