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Sales tax in particular is hazardous. Few towns have much local retail to directly benefit from a sales tax. Instead counties and Concord would collect regional sales tax revenues, absorb a chunk, and maybe return some portion of revenue to towns. This approach grows state power, takes control over taxation and spending away from the town and puts it in the hands of the state. Not where I want to see NH go.
I would rather see a small flat income tax or a small sales tax if that could come with a dramatic cut in property taxes. Like cut them by 2/3rds and get property taxes down to levels that a lot of states in the southeast and mountain west are at.
I'm not sure that we could ever come close to the low property taxes which some states in the southeast and mountain west can get away with. And how would this work, given that property taxes are enacted/collected at the town level? More importantly, has any state ever successfully reduced property taxes over the long term by passing new/increased "broad based" taxes?
Many of our neighboring states attempted "property tax relief" via income+sales taxes, this was always brief and ineffective. For example, PA also has a 6% sales tax and is still ranked in the top ten highest property tax states, and the top 25 for overall tax burden ( New Hampshire is one of the lowest tax-extracting states in the nation, while Vermont & Maine consistently rank in the top 5).
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Originally Posted by sailor_lou
Exactly right. CT instituted a "temporary" 4.5% income tax several years ago to cover budget deficits and to also lower property and sales taxes. Today all income (salary, interest, dividend, pension & SS) is taxed up to 6.99%, sales tax on pretty much everything is 6.35%, with higher rates on "luxury" items and the property taxes slowly increased to the point of being higher than most towns in NH. Once a new tax base is open is pretty easy for politicians to raise the rate to cover new "essential" expenses.
Give the state government a new tool for revenue extraction, they will find new ways to spend our money.
Sales tax in particular is hazardous. Few towns have much local retail to directly benefit from a sales tax. Instead counties and Concord would collect regional sales tax revenues, absorb a chunk, and maybe return some portion of revenue to towns. This approach grows state power, takes control over taxation and spending away from the town and puts it in the hands of the state. Not where I want to see NH go.
I'm not sure that we could ever come close to the low property taxes which some states in the southeast and mountain west can get away with. And how would this work, given that property taxes are enacted/collected at the town level? More importantly, has any state ever successfully reduced property taxes over the long term by passing new/increased "broad based" taxes?
Many of our neighboring states attempted "property tax relief" via income+sales taxes, this was always brief and ineffective. For example, PA also has a 6% sales tax and is still ranked in the top ten highest property tax states, and the top 25 for overall tax burden ( New Hampshire is one of the lowest tax-extracting states in the nation, while Vermont & Maine consistently rank in the top 5).
Give the state government a new tool for revenue extraction, they will find new ways to spend our money.
While I do not advocate increasing any of the taxes and like to vote against raising more money for most things unless it really seems needed or useful, I wonder if there is any lawful way to create a cap or ratio of sorts so that it could never be used in that way? So that there is basically a requirement that does not let taxes flood upward. Maybe some sort of “refund” from the state if it exceeds that limit and have that limit be taxpayer approved, not legislature approved.
No state has successfully either achieved long term ptax relief via income tax, nor held the line on the rate
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Originally Posted by zambiehearts
While I do not advocate increasing any of the taxes and like to vote against raising more money for most things unless it really seems needed or useful, I wonder if there is any lawful way to create a cap or ratio of sorts so that it could never be used in that way? So that there is basically a requirement that does not let taxes flood upward. Maybe some sort of “refund” from the state if it exceeds that limit and have that limit be taxpayer approved, not legislature approved.
Only way to make something like that stick would be to pass it as a constitutional amendment.
Not one US state has managed to use new taxes to A) bring down property taxes, and B) keep them down for the long term. I doubt NH would break the streak.
Only way to make something like that stick would be to pass it as a constitutional amendment.
Not one US state has managed to use new taxes to A) bring down property taxes, and B) keep them down for the long term. I doubt NH would break the streak.
Property taxes would never go down in general.
What a new different type of tax could prevent property taxes from climbing as costs to municipalities go up.
Craig Benson founder of Cabletron became NH governor with the promise to run the state like a business. To get rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse.
As seen today, letting a businessman run the government is a disaster. When Benson was asked why he didn't "fix" New Hampshire. He stated that he needed one more term as governor to accomplish all of this. Craig Benson was booted out - not re-elected.
Property taxes would never go down in general.
What a new different type of tax could prevent property taxes from climbing as costs to municipalities go up.
Craig Benson founder of Cabletron became NH governor with the promise to run the state like a business. To get rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse.
As seen today, letting a businessman run the government is a disaster. When Benson was asked why he didn't "fix" New Hampshire. He stated that he needed one more term as governor to accomplish all of this. Craig Benson was booted out - not re-elected.
The government will never be a business and people should not want it to. Governments have mandates to do things that are inherently not profitable, but because people or towns need it. I don’t know why this is so popular. In addition just because a business is successful does not mean it is not incredibly wasteful. A better option just seems like smarter buying and being more choosy as a state. We can’t have it all if we don’t want to pay for it all.
State working group on school funding discussing proposal for a new tax formula for funding education in NH. I did not watch the whole thing but it appears they are proposing a flat state-wide school rate of $12.50 per 1000, plus a minimum local rate of $5 per thousand - to equalize the fairness across school districts and increase the state contribution. Poorer towns will pay less and richer towns will pay more. If your district costs per pupil are higher than what the standard cost per pupil is - get out your wallet - you are going to see increases. If somebody watches this all the way through please comment.
This proposal does not include any alterations to current use and the average landowner with land in current use is assessed at a rate 95% BELOW other properties in town. They could care less about school funding because everyone else pays their way.
Great. We send more money, a lot more money to Concord, and cross our fingers that our town gets that amount back and reduces our taxes accordingly. Might as well stick our fingers in our eyeballs.
cross our fingers that our town gets that amount back
There is no possibility of that. The purpose of this exercise is to have towns with higher incomes / property values send money to towns with lower incomes / property values. If you live in a town with higher property values, most of this tax will be an adder to your existing bill.
You can count on this being a "starting value" for the tax. Once there are districts mostly financed by people in other districts, there's little incentive to restrain spending or be cost conscious in any way. "Someone else" is paying for it.
All politics is local -- and sadly, in 2020 local means Facebook and Nextdoor
Quote:
Originally Posted by illtaketwoplease
I did not watch the whole thing but it appears they are proposing a flat state-wide school rate of $12.50 per 1000, plus a minimum local rate of $5 per thousand - to equalize the fairness across school districts and increase the state contribution. Poorer towns will pay less and richer towns will pay more. If your district costs per pupil are higher than what the standard cost per pupil is - get out your wallet - you are going to see increases.
They can propose anything they want, but unless the "fairness" crowd sweeps state offices this fall, they're going to have a tough time enacting their proposal for school funding redistribution as law.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KCZ
Great. We send more money, a lot more money to Concord, and cross our fingers that our town gets that amount back and reduces our taxes accordingly. Might as well stick our fingers in our eyeballs.
That's the real goal -- to move control of funds (and thus power) out of of the towns, into the statehouse.
My town has been great about keeping the budget under control and even giving a credit back when the school funding ended up with a surplus (they collected more than they spent), but mostly because of the efforts of a small and vocal group of activist taxpayers. They mostly use facebook to organize.
Why do people want to pay more tax and get nothing for it. I moved here 13 years ago from NJ they had property tax , sales tax, income tax and more. I can say I am paying the same property tax for a 1700 sqft house on 2 acres here in N.H. that I was paying for a 600 Sqft house on less than 1/4 acre in NJ. You know very well once they get a sales tax it will just be more money for them to waste and you will never see any of it again.
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No state has successfully either achieved long term ptax relief via income tax, nor held the line on the rate
All politics is local -- and sadly, in 2020 local means Facebook and Nextdoor
