Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are considering moving from Colorado to a small town (under 10,000 population) in New Hampshire, and I am just wondering why there are HUGE differences between comparable towns.
Of the towns that we are now considering, according to the info I've found, the property tax rates vary from a low of 8.56 for Moultonborough (pop. 4,044) to a high of 25.24 for Warner (pop. 2,833). Is it that Moultonborough receives more tourist revenue, or what?
We are considering moving from Colorado to a small town (under 10,000 population) in New Hampshire, and I am just wondering why there are HUGE differences between comparable towns.
Of the towns that we are now considering, according to the info I've found, the property tax rates vary from a low of 8.56 for Moultonborough (pop. 4,044) to a high of 25.24 for Warner (pop. 2,833). Is it that Moultonborough receives more tourist revenue, or what?
Thanks in advance!
You are close. In the case of Moultonborough it has to do with the total town property valuation. It is a property rich town, meaning very high assessed lake frontage property occupying a large geographical area. Highly valued high assessed properties act as a cumulative windfall for the town, meaning lots of revenue- hence the lower equalized tax rate overall. School spending is lower in total percentage terms because the average age of the population there is far higher and total school age population relative to the rest of the population is less. Carroll County, which Moultonborough is part of, has a lower county tax rate compared to other counties in NH and is a completely rural county. That means fewer employment opportunities and greater distances away from other items.
Warner is in Merrimack County, NW of Concord off interstate 89. Warner does not have the high valuation lake frontage properties, but has a higher tax rate as it spends more on schools. Warner is more conveniently located to other parts of NH via 89 as it is a 40-45 minute drive to the Upper Valley and 25-30 minute drive to Concord and a bit further to Manchester.
It all depends on what you are looking for overall. If you only exclusively target low property tax rates, pick a Lakes Region town as it has the highest overall total property valuations with the lowest population, meaning less need for services and spending. If that is of less importance, big the towns with higher tax rates and excellent schools like Bedford, Amherst, Hollis, Londonderry, etc.
You are close. In the case of Moultonborough it has to do with the total town property valuation. It is a property rich town, meaning very high assessed lake frontage property occupying a large geographical area. Highly valued high assessed properties act as a cumulative windfall for the town, meaning lots of revenue- hence the lower equalized tax rate overall. School spending is lower in total percentage terms because the average age of the population there is far higher and total school age population relative to the rest of the population is less. Carroll County, which Moultonborough is part of, has a lower county tax rate compared to other counties in NH and is a completely rural county. That means fewer employment opportunities and greater distances away from other items.
Warner is in Merrimack County, NW of Concord off interstate 89. Warner does not have the high valuation lake frontage properties, but has a higher tax rate as it spends more on schools. Warner is more conveniently located to other parts of NH via 89 as it is a 40-45 minute drive to the Upper Valley and 25-30 minute drive to Concord and a bit further to Manchester.
It all depends on what you are looking for overall. If you only exclusively target low property tax rates, pick a Lakes Region town as it has the highest overall total property valuations with the lowest population, meaning less need for services and spending. If that is of less importance, big the towns with higher tax rates and excellent schools like Bedford, Amherst, Hollis, Londonderry, etc.
Thanks so much for a VERY informative reply!!!
We are looking for retirement property and will pay "cash", so property taxes will probably (hopefully) be our highest single expense. We just want to get the most bang for our tax bucks, so to speak, so if we need to pay more so that the community looks nice and has good road maintenance and has good services, I would not object. We just don't want to pay a lot and get nothing (or very little) that will benefit us, personally.
Also, GraniteStater, if you are saying that lakefront property is charged at a higher rate than non-lakefront property in the same town, do you know whether the two rates are the same within each category? In other words, in a fictitious NH "Laketown", would all lakefront property be charged a 24.2 tax rate (for example) and would all non-lakefront property be charged a 9.1 tax rate?
We are looking for retirement property and will pay "cash", so property taxes will probably (hopefully) be our highest single expense. We just want to get the most bang for our tax bucks, so to speak, so if we need to pay more so that the community looks nice and has good road maintenance and has good services, I would not object. We just don't want to pay a lot and get nothing (or very little) that will benefit us, personally.
Also, GraniteStater, if you are saying that lakefront property is charged at a higher rate than non-lakefront property in the same town, do you know whether the two rates are the same within each category? In other words, in a fictitious NH "Laketown", would all lakefront property be charged a 24.2 tax rate (for example) and would all non-lakefront property be charged a 9.1 tax rate?
Thanks again!
Ok, if you are looking at "value" and lower overall taxes for a retirement property and don't mind being more rural than the Lakes Region is great. Geographically, some people prefer to be a bit closer to a hospital, so Meredith would be closer than the being further removed on Moultonboro Neck closer to Long Island (bridge that connects to the neck).
Total taxes paid depends exclusively on assessed value. Some towns do a reassessment every year, some every few years. The equalized tax rate does not vary at all regarding lake frontage property or inland property. Each town has a specifically defined set rate that can change yearly dependent on what town residents vote or allocate a defined dollar amount each year at the annual town meeting. You get a better value if you are shopping a property in Moultonboro away from the lake as you benefit from the low town tax rate combined with a lower assessed rate (unless you are talking about a very high end house that would likely be assessed at a higher value). Lake frontage properties are often off the charts in terms of valuation for even upper middle class buyers to give a bit of perspective.
Also, towns like Moultonboro tend to have only slight variations in property tax rates over time- so it is one of the better towns to buy property in NH right now..
Thanks again, Granite Stater. Now I think I understand! (Sorry for being so dense!)
So because the owners of million-dollar properties pay a higher tax amount, it makes up for the lower taxes paid individually on all the $200K (for example) properties, right? (Please don't feel obligated to answer that that unless I got it wrong again!)
Thanks again, Granite Stater. Now I think I understand! (Sorry for being so dense!)
So because the owners of million-dollar properties pay a higher tax amount, it makes up for the lower taxes paid individually on all the $200K (for example) properties, right? (Please don't feel obligated to answer that that unless I got it wrong again!)
Correct, in the case of a select number of Lakes Region towns.
Thanks again, Granite Stater. Now I think I understand! (Sorry for being so dense!)
So because the owners of million-dollar properties pay a higher tax amount, it makes up for the lower taxes paid individually on all the $200K (for example) properties, right? (Please don't feel obligated to answer that that unless I got it wrong again!)
You can get a "lot of house" in the Lakes Region for not a lot of money. 260k in Laconia (with town water, sewer, plowing & trash pick-up) near the Meredith town line will get you a new construction 7 room 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1900sqf home. You can get a small estate for 500k.
Keep in mind that the cities and towns pay the full budget of the counties.
And this also goes by assessed value - not population numbers.
Moultonborough pays 25% of the total Carroll County budget.
And keep in mind that the "donor" town tax has not been settled yet.
Also remember that many of these towns can be quite isolated as far as shopping and access to hospitals.
And do check up on the quality of these hospitals.
I had no idea what a "donor" town tax was, so I Googled it, and came up with the following excerpts from a "Blue Hampshire" blog which I italicized below:
by Elwood on March 26, 2008
The school funding plan – this is the current one, before any Constitutional amendment, that gives each school some $3450 per pupil in state aid then adds extra depending on local conditions – comes up in the House soon. The Monitor discusses its chances and likely rocky road. One of the most controversial aspects: it revives the “donor town.” As I understand it, a donor town is a community that sends more tax money to the state for school funding than it gets back for its own schools. [snip]
Some towns would have an above-average count of high-earner residents and a below-average pupil count; they would presumably send in more money for schools than they got back. Before the Claremont decision, if your town had a lot of people playing the state lottery but didn’t need much state school aid, it was a “donor town.” Any school funding system creates “donor towns” unless it relies entirely on local tax receipts to pay for local schools. And relying only on local funding creates impoverished school districts that cannot fund an adequate education.
New Hampshire is a “donor state:” we send in more federal income tax than we get back in federal spending on state projects. [snip]
This language is Stupid and incendiary, designed to divide people against each other and obscure our actual needs as a state and as communities. [end excerpt]
So, how do you think about this issue, and how do you think MOST New Hampshirites (or is it New Hampshirians? or what?) feel about this issue? And have any of you heard just how much of a tax bite this might add to affluent communities?
(If any of you would care to just point me in the right direction to research rather than going into a perhaps lengthy reply, that would be fine -- and very much appreciated!)
Thanks again!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
