By Katie Northcott, News Director
An item concerning Manchester Chamber of Commerce funding did not appear on the Manchester Finance Committee’s agenda.
This development is unexpected as the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) asked the Committee to increase the Chamber’s funding in BOMA’s December meeting.
BOMA’s request came after the Finance Committee slashed the Chamber’s funding in November at the suggestion of Manchester Mayor Joey Hobbs.
The City had originally allocated $27,000 to the Chamber in its FY 2026 budget. Hobbs indicated at the November Finance meeting, that he planned to hire a tourism director in January and wanted to allocate $13,000 of those funds to the projects that director might pursue.
At the same Finance Committee meeting, Vice Mayor Mark Messick said the city’s investment in the Chamber isn’t worth it.
At the BOMA meeting Alderman Ryan French disagreed, saying the Chamber supports local business.
BOMA passed French’s motion to ask the Finance Committee to raise Chamber funding to $25,000 with a 5-1 vote. Messick was the lone dissenting vote. He said he opposed the motion because he thought the Chamber should have come to the BOMA meeting to ask for funding themselves.
The Finance Committee will meet on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 4 p.m.
Find Peterson Media Group’s coverage of the Finance Committee meeting here and BOMA meeting here.
