Kathy Hubert
Newport
To the editor,
I want to thank the people who attended the Sullivan County Education Workshop in Newport. I would like to share a few important details mentioned and included in participants’ packages at the workshop. The proposed House budget currently under review by the Senate Finance Committee provides critical relief to communities who struggle with property taxes; specifically public education costs. The proposed state budgets rescinds the 4 percent yearly cuts in state stabilization grants since 2017. These cuts have and will costs towns like my home town Newport nearly an additional increase of $2 per thousand on our already high tax rate. Additionally, the State House Budget includes increase per student adequacy funding and provides targeted assistance with schools. This aid will provide towns like Claremont $4.2 million, Newport 2.2 million, Charlestown $1.7 million, and many of the other 133 towns struggling aid they need to stabilize their schools and lower property taxes. For nearly 20-35 years communities like Newport, Claremont, Franklin, Berlin, Charlestown to name a few have struggled economically. These communities have loss a significant percentage of their tax base as traditional manufacturing industry have left their communities. The loss of tax base has forced the increase in local taxes which has become a barrier for new industry and families alike to move and invest in these communities to restore the needed tax base.
I believe funding public education and ensuring that hard working New Hampshire citizens can afford housing is not a partisan issue. I think since the Claremont Suit Ruling some 26 years ago by N.H. Supreme Court which affirmed that public education is a N.H.’s citizen right and a N.H. responsibility, the legislature has been unable to find a workable solutions, I believe because of politics. Republican, Democrat and other political affiliations, we need to work together to find a solution to this crisis and move away from the regressive property tax methodology. I call it is a crisis because 77 percent of N.H. children actually live in communities with below average equalized property values. Please write and call your legislator and Gov. Sununu. Together I believe we can restore the N.H. Advantage economically to all of N.H.’s communities and all of N.H.’s children.
Sincerely,
Kathy Hubert
Newport
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