The committee heard testimony on House Bill 86 on Jan. 13, which would allow municipalities to recover from owners the actual cost of certified mail used to notify owners of civil forfeiture proceedings for unlicensed dogs—bringing the recoverable amount in line with current U.S. Postal Service rates.

Representative Saint Clair, prime sponsor, said Laconia clerks raised the issue after postage increases left municipalities absorbing the difference when they were required by statute to send notices by certified mail. City and town clerks from several municipalities described the fiscal strain of mailing hundreds or thousands of certified notices.

Katie Gargano, Laconia city clerk, said Laconia licenses about 28,100 dogs and mailed 300 civil‑forfeiture notices in 2024; she gave the cost of a certified notice in 2024 as $9.64 while the statutory recoverable amount is $7, producing a net loss to the city of $792. Tina Guilford, town clerk in Derry, said Derry mailed 1,244 civil forfeiture notices in 2024 and could not practically hand‑deliver the notices within statutory deadlines; she said the statutory recovery amount should match the postage clerks are required to use.

Tammy Bakke, representing the New Hampshire City and Town Clerks Association, said many smaller towns face similar burdens and supported aligning the reimbursable cost with actual postage. Dan Healy, Nashua city clerk, said Nashua mailed roughly 2,000 civil forfeiture notices in 2024 and also supported the change; he said his city had broad support among clerks for the proposal.

Committee members asked clerks about staff time to prepare mailings; Gargano said certified‑mail preparation took roughly a day for her office’s batch of notices. No municipal fiscal note was presented to the committee; clerks described direct but small per‑letter losses that can add up in larger municipalities.

The public hearing was closed with clerks urging a statutory change to allow municipalities to recoup current postage costs rather than the lower fixed figure in RSA 466:14.