Regarding NH’s school funding formula
I recently attended an event hosted at Fall Mountain Regional High School by the organization Rights & Democracy (RAD) titled School Funding 101. It was very informative. Do you want to know why your taxes are so high? You should see for yourself.
The goal of the presentation was to highlight inequities in the state’s (unconstitutional) school funding formula. I was previously aware of Claremont’s long battle with the state for a better funding formula, but it was staggering to see the disparity between different cities and towns quantified. The state’s funding system results in Claremont property owners paying nearly four times as much in taxes per thousand dollars than residents in Portsmouth. Does that seem fair?
This is a regressive tax structure. It touches the richest communities most lightly while hitting the poorest communities the hardest. It’s not just Claremont. Newport and Charlestown are also among the most suffering municipalities in the state. In effect, by refusing to move to a more progressive tax structure, the rest of the state is abandoning most of Sullivan County.
Last year, I watched in amazement as a city councilor voted against fixing the badly leaking roof of the Claremont Opera House. Among other things, this was just bad economics, but I get what he was thinking: not a penny to be spent on any extraneous projects until the tax rate comes down. The notion seems to be that taxes are high in Claremont because of waste and graft at the city level. I track a couple of local far-right bloggers and vloggers who hold similar ideas. This is missing the forest for the trees. Refusing to fix that leaky roof might save pennies on your tax bill in the short term, but this isn’t why people here are struggling. If the state had an equitable school funding formula, property owners would save thousands.
That’s no exaggeration. The presenter identified $11-$13 per thousand as the average property tax range in New Hampshire. I’m betting most people here would be thrilled to pay “only” that much.
RAD will be holding similar presentations in this area soon. Might be worth your time to check one out.
Sam Killay
Claremont, NH
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