Op-Ed: Property taxes are crushing NH families and it doesn’t have to be this way
I published this piece in the Seacoast Online on Saturday. Read it on their website.
As a local government leader and homeowner, I know firsthand the crushing impact of local property taxes in NH and how unpredictable and significant tax increases can destabilize a community and make long-term planning and investment all but impossible.
Last fall, after Hampton’s reassessment, hundreds of residents packed the basement of the town hall where we meet as a Select Board to tell us their property tax horror stories. We heard from a retiree who lives in a mobile home and can’t afford to pay an additional thousand dollars a year on her tax bill. We heard from a neighbor who had to choose between paying for his heating oil and his property taxes.
I hear stories like this every day as a local government official and a candidate for Congress: this system is broken, property taxes are too high, there must be a better way.
Plenty of politicians at the state and federal level talk about these problems but do very little to actually fix them. They kick the can down the road until it lands in our basement meeting room.
That’s why I was heartened to see a group of local and state leaders propose a plan that addresses the tragic fact that NH currently ranks dead last in state funding for public schools, and as a result, leaves us with some of the highest property taxes in the country.
These leaders, including former Executive Councilor, Andru Volinsky; Concord City Councilor, Aislin Kalob; Rochester Mayor Chuck Grassie; and State Representative, Tom Oppel, are proposing an innovative solution that bucks decades of failure on the part of our state government to seriously support local communities.
While the ultimate form this solution takes may look different from the plan proposed this week, I agree with the idea that local property taxpayers are paying too much in taxes. This proposal would shift the burden off low and middle income residents and finally force the wealthiest residents of NH to pay their fair share.
They’re calling their proposal a “3-3 Tax Savings Plan,” and the idea is to institute a 3% income tax, with broad exemptions for low and middle class residents, and a $3 tax per $1,000 of property value, which would make the first $250,000 of home value free.
More taxes, you say? Well, not so fast. By finally generating enough revenue from wealthy residents to meaningfully increase state aid to public schools, everyone else’s property taxes would go down!
I plugged my family’s information into the NH Tax Savings Calculator and discovered that under this proposal, we’d save over $1,000 dollars a year on our overall tax bill. That’s a start.
What we need now is a federal delegation with the courage to bring this same innovative and evidence-based approach to their work in Washington. You want to talk about property tax relief? Here are two ways the federal government could help lower your property taxes, now.
1) Fully fund IDEA. A half century ago, the federal government passed a law mandating that students with disabilities have access to a fair and appropriate public education. It was landmark legislation which included a cost-sharing provision, so that this burden wouldn’t fall exclusively on local communities. It’s been fifty years, and the federal government has never fulfilled their commitment to fund this work. When I’m in Congress, I will fight to lower your property taxes and get all children the education they deserve by fully funding IDEA.
2) Pass Medicare for All. There are three costs driving increases in public school budgets (and as a result your property taxes): special education, transportation, and health insurance. Medicare for All is a broadly popular proposal, but I hear very few advocates talking about how it would help lower your property taxes by reducing the gigantic health insurance premiums that school districts and municipalities pay to insurance companies to cover their municipal employees. I have served on the budget committee, and I have poured over every line looking for ways to save property taxpayers a dime. Taking health insurance premiums out of the budget would help us lower property taxes.
We’re living with too much dysfunction in our political system. Too much cowardice. Too much performative sloganeering. We deserve leaders who are willing to stick their necks out to solve the problems we face. Whether it’s this proposal or another, I’m proud that some leaders in this state are willing to step up and propose solutions to help the rest of us.
