Taxes in NH increases? (Manchester, Nashua: how much, schools, property taxes)

[Positiveone]

Hi everybody! On average how much do the property taxes raise yearly in NH? We are looking into Suburbs of Nashua & Manchester. possibly Londonderry.

Many have told me that the cost of living and taxes are high so i was wondering do these taxes go up much yearly?

[GotBackHome]

Hi there,

every town is different, so one town may raise their taxes frequently while another doesn't - or one town may jump their taxes suddenly... it's all on a local level. You'd need to specify a town in particular and if someone lives there then they could tell you how the taxes stay.

[Valerie C]

It also depends on what the taxpayers of that town have voted yay or nay on in their annual town meeting. I've discovered that it's VERY important to attend not only the town meeting (generally held in March) but also the budget meetings leading up to the meeting, so you know what you're voting for. People from other states who are used to state-control of schools, etc. just don't see the need. While there is a lot of foolishness at this day-long annual event (ie: spending nearly an hour deliberating if a path is going to be maintained in the winter at a cost of a couple thousand dollars, yet passing MILLIONS in benefits/pay raises, etc. in just a couple of minutes) Each individual resident owes it to themselves and to their community to make the effort and be there to vote on the town budget. You can bet that the benefactors of the budget are there voting in full force!!

Gee, that didn't answer your question, did it. I would say that it might go up a hundred or two every year, with big increases happening randomly if big items are voted in like Taj Mahal police stations, fire stations & town halls.....

[GotBackHome]

One way to get a little idea of how stable the taxes are: if you go to NH Community Profiles (http://www.nh.gov/nhes/elmi/communpro.htm - broken link) and click on the town you're interested in, it will give you a tax rate that's a few years old (look in the 4th block of the left column: property taxes) probably from '06. Then you can go to the town's own website and find the current tax amount, it's usually there somewhere. that will at least give you an idea how the taxes have changed in the last few years which may give you an idea how thrifty the town may be. Now, what they will do in the future? I don't have a crystal ball.