BREAKING: Nashua Employees in Crisis as City Leadership Refuses to Act

City employees are responsible for serving Nashua’s estimated 91,000 residents every single day, quietly keeping things running behind the scenes. They provide essential services that the entire community depends on, even as they struggle to stay afloat themselves.

But the city is now forcing out its own workforce by refusing to pay a livable wage.

Across departments, excluding fire, police, and education, unaffiliated municipal employees are paid so little they can barely make ends meet. Despite years of warnings, wage studies, and rising costs, Director of Administrative Services Tim Cummings continues to delay, deflect, and deprioritize these workers. Some employees have already walked out after seeing their July paychecks reflected no changes, despite the city “promising” action. Others are barely holding on.

The city employees of Nashua, the very people who keep the city running, are purposefully being underpaid so the City can continue funding glamorous distractions like block parties and holiday strolls, along with extravagant vanity projects like the Nashua Center for the Arts. It’s a gross display of indulgence, a monument to misplaced priorities, and a clear example of lavish spending that overlooks the needs of the very workers who make the city function.

This isn’t speculation or hearsay. The city has openly admitted to underpaying its employees. And after years of broken promises, city leadership continues to turn a blind eye while workers suffer quietly. Rather than investing in the stability and well-being of Nashua’s workforce, they seem more focused on making the city look beautiful and cultured, even if it’s at the expense of the people who hold it all together.

Suspiciously, the July 7, 2025, Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee meeting, the very meeting where wage changes are discussed and decided, was conveniently canceled just days before paychecks were issued. Paychecks that should have included long-overdue raises employees were promised for years. Not only did this move delay accountability, but it also effectively silenced employees who may have planned to speak out during the meeting. It’s hard not to see this as a calculated effort to avoid backlash and suppress public comment, all while workers continue to go underpaid.

This crisis is well-documented and completely avoidable. But city leadership continues to ignore its urgency and allows the situation to worsen. This is a story about real people being crushed by inaction, and a city that risks losing the very workforce it relies on to function.

Issue #1: Take-Home Pay Doesn’t Cover Basic Living Costs

According to the City of Nashua’s own FY2025 unaffiliated salary schedule, once you account for:

• a 4% annual raise,
• a 10% increase in health insurance premiums, and
• federal and payroll taxes,

Most employees are left with take-home pay under $2,500/month, even if they’re making $52,000/year on paper. That’s not nearly enough to survive in Nashua, where average rent alone is $1,800–$2,200/month. When you add in childcare, groceries, utilities, and transportation, the math just doesn’t work.

This isn’t just a wage issue, it’s a survival issue. People are trying to raise families on salaries that don’t even cover the cost of housing. And they’re expected to show up every day to keep the city running. Many employees are talking about leaving. And who can blame them?

** Please note that the FY2025 unaffiliated salary schedule is the most current pay chart publicly available, even though we are now in FY2026.

Issue #2: The City Already Knows They’re Underpaying and Admitted It

The City of Nashua commissioned a formal compensation study, reportedly costing over $100,000, to compare unaffiliated municipal pay with that of similar communities. The study confirmed what employees already knew, they are unfairly underpaying employees after comparing other municipalities. But instead of implementing adjustments, Director Tim Cummings ignores warnings from his peers, common sense, and continues not to implement fair wages. It’s unethical. He is knowingly failing employees as the lead official.

Despite having this information in hand since February 3, 2025, nothing has been implemented, and city leadership is choosing to wait. Employees can’t.

** The information above is sourced directly from the official minutes of the Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee meeting held on June 2, 2025.

Issue #3: Leadership Is Actively Making Things Worse

During the June 2, 2025, Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee meeting, several elected officials expressed concerns about delaying wage adjustments and asked:

• “Why are we waiting?”
• “How do we expect to retain our workforce?”
• “Isn’t this a priority?”

But instead of responding with urgency, Director Cummings dismissed their concerns, dodged direct answers, redirected the conversation, and continued to treat the situation as if it were optional, not urgent. Then continued to frame this as a long-term project instead of a current crisis. This lack of leadership and refusal to act is actively hurting city workers, and it’s creating long-term risk for the stability of Nashua itself.

Honestly, I can’t say I’m all that surprised, especially considering Tim Cummings makes a hefty $160,225 a year, which is significantly more than the mayor, who earns $137,776. It’s hard to imagine he feels much urgency to fix the city’s wage crisis when he’s already sitting comfortably on a six-figure salary. When you’re pulling in more than the mayor, maybe it’s easier to ignore how little everyone else is getting paid.

If the person responsible for fixing this crisis won’t act, what exactly is he being paid to do?

** The information above is sourced directly from the official minutes of the Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee meeting held on June 2, 2025.

Questionable Budget Priorities

The city claims there’s no money. But the numbers tell a different story.

1. Property Services: Nashua Center for the Arts

• FY2025 Adopted Budget: $865,000
• Rent: $700,000
• Equipment Lease: $165,000

That’s nearly $1 million going to a single building (The Center for the Arts). While it may be a cultural asset, this is a recurring operational cost, not a one-time investment. It’s outrageous that the City of Nashua found millions to fund a shiny new arts center while city workers are struggling to survive. People are choosing between groceries and rent while a luxury theater stands as a monument to misplaced priorities. Before a single dime goes to curtain calls and concerts, we should be paying our workers enough to live. This is not just mismanagement, it’s moral failure.

2. Legal Department Spending

• FY2025 Adopted Budget: $1,002,281

This budget increased from FY2024 $923,995 → FY2025 $1,002,281.

This includes legal services, likely including the controversial $500,000 legal reserve. There was a motion to cut $500,000 from the Risk Management budget, specifically from the line item “Legal Outside Services.” It was proposed because the full $500,000 hadn’t been used in previous years. When asked why it remained funded, the justification was essentially “just in case.” But the cut failed because other members of the committee pushed back. This tells us unspent or rarely used funds are being preserved instead of being reallocated to more urgent needs. Money is being held back rather than actively used to support community stability like fair pay wages.

The increase in the Legal Department’s budget may also not be coincidental, it could signal that the city is preparing to defend itself against wage-related complaints rather than addressing the root issue of unfair pay. Instead of using those funds to support workers, they may be prioritizing legal protection over accountability.

Either way, it’s infuriating that Nashua increased its legal budget to over $1 million, and the legal reserve is just sitting unused. This is taxpayer money being hoarded for “hypothetical” lawsuits while real people are living paycheck to paycheck. Before stockpiling cash for legal battles that may never come, the city should be paying its workers enough to survive. This isn’t strategy, it’s neglect, or perhaps even a deliberate plan.

** The information above is sourced directly from the official minutes of the Budget Review Committee meeting held on June 18, 2024.

3. Economic Development

• FY2025 Budget: $441,933

This department often funds events like Holiday Strolls, banners, and block party setups. This budget increased from FY2024 $358,082 → FY2025 $441,933. That’s a big jump in just one year.

The City of Nashua just hiked its Economic Development budget. Spending nearly half a million dollars on holiday strolls, banners, and block parties. While city workers are barely scraping by. Celebrations and sidewalk decor won’t help families pay bills. How can a city justify throwing festivals while its own employees can’t afford to live here? This isn’t economic development, it’s performative distraction.

4. Public Library Capital Outlay

• FY2024: $0 → FY2025: $100,000

• Labeled as capital (likely one-time)

Nashua just threw $100,000 into the library’s capital budget. What is it for? The reason for adding funds is unclear, while the city’s front-line workers are still fighting for fair pay. That’s a six-figure mystery expense added after spending nothing the year before. How does this get approved when employees can’t afford basic necessities? Unexplained capital projects shouldn’t come before transparent budgeting and fair labor practices.

** Please note that all of the information above was taken directly from the FY2025 Adopted Budget, which remains the most current chart publicly available, even though we are now in FY2026.

Resolution R-25-172: Suspicious Timing

This resolution, introduced by Mayor Jim Donchess for Legislative Year 2025, proposes transferring $500,000 from the City’s Assigned Fund Balance, essentially Nashua’s savings account, into the City Retirement Expendable Trust Fund. At the time, the fund only had $11,977 in it, while the Assigned Fund Balance held over $14 million. This trust fund is used for retirement-related severance payments.

So why now? Why drop half a million into a fund that barely had $12K? Is the city anticipating a wave of retirements? Are they preparing to quietly push people out instead of paying fair wages? At a time when city workers are fighting just to make ends meet, this sudden move raises serious questions. Are they trying to force people to quit? Is this their strategy to deal with growing unrest over low pay, by funding retirements instead of raises? It’s extremely suspicious, and it’s hard not to see this move as strategic.

** The information above is sourced directly from Resolution R-25-172.

Capital Improvements Plan: FY2025

• $8 million for Holman Stadium
• $900,000 for park lighting
• $350,000 for riverfront beautification
• $100,000 for pool improvements

The City of Nashua is actively discussing how to fund these projects with massive price tags. Yet the issue of fair wages keeps getting pushed aside. These projects aren’t emergencies, they’re wish list items. Meanwhile, city employees are still waiting for a living wage. It’s clear where the city’s priorities lie, concrete and turf over real people. If the city can seriously consider pouring millions into pools, lights, beautification, and a stadium, then it can afford to pay its workers fairly.

** The information above is sourced directly from the FY2025 Capital Improvements Program.

Where’s the Transparency

Documents for FY2026 related to employee pay and other critical FY2026 information are nowhere to be found online. Under the Right-to-Know Law, this information is legally required to be accessible to both employees and the public. Why is basic information about pay missing? If there’s nothing to hide, why isn’t it accessible? Transparency isn’t optional, it’s the law.

This Story Deserves to Be Told

The city has promised changes for years. That hasn’t happened. Employees saw no real increase and are preparing to leave.

The city is increasing spending while wages for front-line staff aren’t keeping up with cost of living. Meanwhile, the city has that money, it just needs to be reallocated. So why is nothing being done?

What Needs to Happen

This isn’t about the budget. It’s about priorities. City leadership is making it clear, front-line employees are not a priority.

Employees are requesting action:

• Implementing the proposed unaffiliated pay grid (at least to the 70th percentile)
• Reallocating at least $500,000 from non-essential funding to close the gap
• Holding officials publicly accountable for delays and deflections

If this doesn’t happen now, Nashua will continue to lose the very people who keep it functional. Nashua is at a turning point. We can either value the people who keep this city alive, or we can watch them walk away.

The Pressure Is Building

This issue is coming to a head. The next Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee Meeting is August 4, 2025. This is the time to raise awareness.

Employees are afraid to speak out publicly given the fear of retaliation, but their silence is not consent. People are quietly suffering.

Please don’t let this go unnoticed. This is a breaking story with major consequences for public services, families, and the future of Nashua’s workforce. This is a story that truly deserves attention. Thank you for reading. Please help shine a light on this issue.