Press Releases/What’s New

The Clipper Strong Fund Committee announces that nineteen small Portsmouth businesses will receive Clipper Strong Fund mini-grants of $500 each, for a total distribution of $9,000. This second initiative was made possible by generous donations to the Clipper Strong Fund to assist Portsmouth small businesses who “might otherwise fall through the cracks.” The mini-grants provide short-term relief to cover such expenses as utility bills, rent, PPE or other expenses.

The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration has approved the City’s 2020 tax rate for Fiscal Year 2021 of $14.70 per $1,000 of valuation.

City Manager Karen Conard noted the 2020 tax rate dropped by 16 cents or 1.1% from the prior year’s tax rate of $14.86. 

The City of Portsmouth has received two awards for exceptional financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the publication of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and the Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR). The GFOA is a professional organization of public officials united to enhance and promote the professional management of governmental financial resources by identifying, developing and advancing fiscal strategies, policies and practices for the public benefit.

The City of Portsmouth Public Works Department is hosting a public input meeting via Zoom to discuss potential traffic calming measures for Banfield Road. The meeting is Wednesday, November 18 at 6:30 pm. To participate by Zoom, advance registration is required. For the registration information, click here.

The Post Commander of Portsmouth Frank E. Booma Post 6 of the American Legion reports that instead of the usual Veterans Day ceremonies this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Veterans Day will be commemorated with a wreath-laying at the Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Goodwin Park.

Closing of City Clerk’s Office:

The City Clerk’s Office will be closed on Tuesday, November 3, 2020 to all business other than Election matters.

Work related to the repair of the sewer force main on the Pierce Island Road Bridge will resume on Tuesday, November 3, 2020 and continue until December 15, 2020. Scaffolding will be installed along the underside of the Peirce Island Road Bridge and new pipe will be installed in the road on Peirce Island. The work will limit travel, intermittently, to a single lane of alternating one-way travel on weekdays between 7:30 am and 3:30 pm.

The Portsmouth Department of Public Works is responsible for maintaining all of the City’s public works of art, ranging from Jerome Meadows’ fragile ceramic tiles embedded in the African Burying Ground Memorial to the massive steel sculpture by Terrence Parker commissioned for the Foundry Place Garage. One of the works that recently received special attention from DPW Facilities engineers is the Cabot Lyford sculpture, My Mother the Wind that has stood on Four Tree Island for the past 45 years.

Pictured above, left to right: Matt Billings Project Manager, Martini Northern LLC, City Manager Karen Conard,