Keeping PROPERTY Taxes Down
Keeping local taxes under control is a top priority for us all!
When our state government falls short of its financial obligations under the NH Constitution, our property taxes go up to make up the difference.
Big businesses should pay their fair share.
I oppose the increases to our local property taxes forced on us by the 2020 reduction of business profits taxes paid by big business. We should all be concerned about the state's ongoing practice of "downshifting" tax burdens onto rural towns. The state collects a significant portion of our property taxes, then neglects its responsibility to fully support mandated programs in our towns, such as schooling, road and bridge repairs, and pensions for police and municipal workers. Not only that, but since 2020, the state has diverted even more of taxpayers' public dollars into pockets of privately-owned out-of-state companies and private schools. Our dollars were taken from us and not returned in the form of support or services, so we will be forced to vote at the next Town Meeting to increase our own taxes to make up the difference. This is unfair to every resident of Andover, Danbury, Hill, Salisbury and Webster! Higher property taxes are especially hurtful to retirees and those who are on fixed incomes.
We are powerless to end this downshifting practice in our Town Meetings; it needs to be tackled in Concord. Every dollar that corporate profit taxes are cut, or every dollar kicked back in corporate welfare to out-of-state businesses operating in NH, makes property taxes for folks like us go up another dollar! In the 2019 session, I fought successfully for a state budget that returned the following amounts back to our towns for their school and municipal budgets:
Andover: $51,000 increased funds for 2020; $115,000 for 2021
Danbury: $70,000 increased funds for 2020; $106,000 for 2021
Salisbury: $21,000 increased funds for 2020; $96,000 for 2021
(These figure reflect our 2019 voting District, before Hill and Webster became part of District 5. The dollar amounts were determined by population and numbers from the Free & Reduced Lunch school program.)
