Things for Taxpayers to Consider when Voting – Part III

Part III: What You Can Do About Property Taxes this Election

Taxes increase, State aid increases, number of students and their scores decrease. What to do?

VOTE YES ON QUESTION 2 TO CAP THE GROWTH OF TAXES!!

By Rep. Carol McGuire, Epsom

At the very bottom of the ballot, below the constitutional amendment question, is Question 2. It reads:

“Shall the [name of municipality] limit property tax growth for [name(s) of school district(s)] under RSA 32:5-i? If adopted for a two-year period:
(1) the local property tax levy may not grow beyond the prior year’s amount, adjusted for inflation and new construction;
(2) SAU central office spending may not exceed 6 percent of total school district appropriations; and
(3) bonded capital costs are excluded from both limits.
These caps apply only to administrative operations of the SAU central office and do not affect classroom instruction, school-based services, or other municipal expenditures. These limits may be overridden as provided in RSA 32:5-i. Adoption requires a three-fifths (3/5) majority vote.”

Have your eyes glazed over yet?

Two things will happen if 60% of the school district’s voters approve question 2.

First, the district property tax for 2027 and 2028 (dollars collected from school district residents and businesses) cannot be more than the previous year’s amount, adjusted for inflation and any new taxable property in the district.
It does not reduce spending, just limits how much taxes can grow. Nobody in the classroom is affected.

Secondly, the amount sent to the school administrative unit (SAU) is capped at 6% of total school district spending. This is pure administrative overhead, but does not count principals or other local administrative workers: it is the superintendents, assistant superintendents, business managers, coordinators, and so on and so on in the SAU office.
This may or may not change anything – Epsom’s SAU budget was less than 4% of the total, for example.

While this may seem like a radical idea, 43 other states impose limits on local property taxes, and this is perhaps the mildest in that it doesn’t impose anything, it only enables towns to enact a cap, and even there it requires a supermajority vote.

Warning: if you support this idea, you need to vote in the local elections in March! These limits can be overridden by 60% of those voting on the issue – and typically turnout in March is very low and dominated by school supporters.

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CLICK HERE for more information on Property Taxes and Question 2.
– State education aid grew from $599 million in FY20 to approximately $1.06 billion today.
– State aid per student nearly doubled from $3,552 per pupil in FY20 to $7,092 in FY26.
– Meanwhile statewide enrollment fell by roughly 40,000 students over 20 years.

WE NEED TO GET EVERYONE WE KNOW TO GET OUT AND VOTE “YES” ON QUESTION 2 ON NOVEMBER 3rd!!!