Tax hike has city resident seeing red

By CHRIS FROST
Eagle Times News Editor
CLAREMONT, NH — With the new year dawning in Claremont, new tax rates are out for homeowners, which has local homeowner Joe Currier claiming the new rate is unfair.

Currier said his tax bill went up 25% throughout 2023, increasing by approximately $1,000.

He has lived in Claremont for many years, owns a duplex on Kennedy Drive, and said he’s communicated with City Manager Yoshi Manale about his tax assessment.

“The rate went to $27.80 per thousand of assessed value, and the old rate was $41.68,” he said. “When you look at the valuations of all these properties that went up high, one of the biggest reasons why it happened was a lot of out-of-staters bought property here. A very slim amount of people here bought property who work in Claremont and Lebanon and bought a home here.”

He said the rate stayed steady for businesses on Washington Street, but the new rate lowered their tax bill.

“Manale wants me to come in for a cup of coffee and discuss this,” Currier said. “We’ve complained about the state for years not paying enough for education. This situation occurred because you lowered the rate because you made these values on these homes five years ago. A $100,000 home went to $200,000. Then a home for $200,000 went to $350,000.”

He said they aren’t considering inflation.

“I know it costs more money in town to run the highway, police, and all these departments, so the budgets are going up,” Currier said.

He doesn’t mind paying his fair share but told Manale and Mayor Dale Girard that he doesn’t like businesses that aren’t paying their fair share.

“The excuse I got from the mayor was they were overtaxed 15 years ago, like the businesses on Washington Street,” Currier said. “How about the people where you raised the rate and the values went down? We weren’t treated right in residential places.”

He noted that one business on Washington Avenue had their taxes dropped by about $5,000.

“Why, there’s a two-unit apartment on top, a store, another retail building, and a gas station, and the taxes go down,” he said. “It’s not fair, and that’s my point. If you did it across the board, you would have lowered the rate, and everybody would have had a better understanding.”

He said the assessment went up, but their bill went down with the new tax rate.

“They’re saying the businesses were overtaxed on Washington Street, and I don’t think that’s a fair statement,” he said. “I think all the businesses on Washington Street are doing really well. That’s what happened in Claremont. They didn’t go after the businesses.”

He told Mayor Dale Girard if taxes go up by 2% in Claremont, it should be 2% for everybody.

Girard tells the Eagle Times that “at the time Washington Street businesses saw large increases and were unhappy. When one class of property sees larger increases than others, there is a shift in who is paying taxes.”

Manale tells the Eagle Times that the tax bill is based on the homeowner’s property value, and homeowners have the right to dispute the new appraised home value by contacting the city assessing office at 603-542-7004 or emailing [email protected] to schedule time to review their dispute.

“For years, people have noted Claremont had the highest tax rate in the state,” he said. “This was due to Claremont properties being underassessed, and with the correction, we are no longer in the top 10 highest rates in the state.”