State Treasurer Monica Mizzapelli told the Senate Capital Budget Committee that New Hampshire retains borrowing capacity under statutory and analytic measures but urged caution as lawmakers consider increasing bond authorizations.

Mizzapelli described two methods the treasury uses to review debt affordability: a statutory limit (cited in the hearing as “CRSRS 6 c”) that effectively discourages authorizations that would push debt service above 10 percent of unrestricted revenues, and an annually updated debt‑affordability study that models ratios such as debt‑to‑revenue, debt per capita and debt service to general fund revenues.

She said New Hampshire’s debt‑to‑revenue ratio has improved over the last decade — from about 8.2% in 2015 to roughly 3.8% in 2024 — giving the state room to issue additional bonds under conservative assumptions. The treasurer warned that issuing more debt raises the debt‑service‑to‑revenue ratio over time and noted the biennial authorization baseline discussed in the hearing (about $120 million per year) is a policy choice rather than a statutory floor.

Mizzapelli told senators that certain major capital proposals — including a previously discussed prison project — should be factored into long‑range debt projections. She said the rating agencies monitor whether the state plans to issue more debt and that officials should communicate any change in borrowing plans to those agencies.

Committee members asked whether capital projects with a useful life of less than 20 years should be financed by bonds; the treasurer said bonds are normally used for assets expected to last at least 20 years.