BELMONT — Police arrested a Bean Hill Road teen Wednesday afternoon and charged him with six counts of fraudulent use of a credit card — all Class B misdemeanors.
Lt. Richard Mann said Patrick J. McDonald, 19, of 159 Bean Hill Road is free on personal recognizance bail and has been given a court date of March 7 in the 4th Circuit Court, Laconia Division.
Mann said McDonald's arrest was the result of an alert local business owner who detected suspicious activity allegedly involving McDonald and multiple purchases he made within a short period of time.
He said Officer Patrick Riley and Det. Gary Boisvert investigated and were able to contact the card holder who had not realized his card was missing and being used without his permission.
Mann said it is not known at this time if McDonald knew the victim or how the card landed in his possession.
He said the Belmont police and the Federal Trade Commission recommend not to give anyone a credit card number on the phone unless you instigate the call; to carry cards separately from your wallet and only bring it if you expect to use it; to keep your eye on the card and make sure you get it back; and to never sign a blank receipt. Draw a line through any blank spaces before the total.
The FTC also recommends saving receipts, opening bills promptly or checking them on line regularly, and to report any suspicious charges to the issuer. They also recommend notifying your credit card issuer if you plan to travel and to never write your account number on the outside of an envelope.

CONCORD — Executive Councilor Ray Burton of Bath and Senator Jeff Woodburn (D-Dalton), who together represent the North Country, have endorsed legislation that would authorize just one casino gambling venue in the state, some proceeds from which would be dedicated to economic development in the North Country as well as transportation and higher education.
Burton said yesterday that he has consistently supported the expansion of gambling to supplement state revenues. "This is not new ground for me," he said.
In the past Burton has favored licensing a gambling franchise at one of the grand hotels in the North Country. However, Burton said that he accepts one venue, most likely at Rockingham Park in Salem, with the assurance of an annual investment of between $5-million and $10-million in the economy of the North Country.
Woodburn called the legislation, sponsored by Senators Chuck Morse (R-Salem) and Lou D'Alessandro (D-Manchester), "the North Country economic development bill." He said that the state faces a challenging budget with many competing demands for scarce funds and welcomed the assurance of annual investment in the most hard-pressed region of the state.
Burton, whose district includes four cities and 108 towns in seven of the 10 counties, said he will be urging the 80 lawmakers representing these municipalities to support the bill. "There has to be some new revenue in the budget," he said, "and this bill stands a good chance of becoming a reality."

CONCORD — A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation that would change the formula for distributing revenue from the meals and rooms tax among cities and towns, which is currently allocated exclusively according to their populations, by distributing a share of the revenue based on the amount collected in the municipalities.
At first glance, it appears the effect in Belknap County would be to award a greater share of the pie to towns with extensive waterfront property  where the lion's share of the establishments that collect the tax are located. However, all the muncipalities of Belknap County would find themselves competing for funds with those of more populous counties, where the number of estabishments and the volume of tax receipts are greater.
Beginning in 1995 the Legislature embarked on a program intended to ultimately distribute 40-percent of the annual revenue from the meals and rooms tax to municipalities. That year cities and towns received 75-percent of what they were allotted in 1976, plus three-quarters of the annual increase in tax receipts. Each year thereafter municipalities were to receive the prior year's amount plus three-quarters of the annual increase in revenue until the total distribution to cities and towns reached 40 percent of all receipts.
However, since 2009, when the tax rate was raised from 8 percent to 9-percent, the amount distributed to municipalities has been frozen at $58.8-million, which in fiscal year 2012 represented about 25-percent of total revenues of $238.5-million.
Senate Bill 121 would reallocate funding to municipalities by basing 44-percent of the distribution on the amount of tax revenue collected in the cities and towns and the remaining 56-percent on their respective populations. If the amount distributed remains unchanged at $58.8-million, $25.9-million would be apportioned based on the origin of tax receipts and $32.9-million according to population.
Senator Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton), the prime sponsor of the bill, has said it is intended to distribute a greater share of the revenue to the municipalities that generate the largest share of the revenue to compensate them for the costs they incur providing the services required to accommodate tourists and visitors who pay the tax.
While the bill would have no effect on the total amount of money distributed, it would change the relative shares of municipalities. But, these changes cannot be calculated since the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) is bound by statute not to disclose the taxes paid by particular establishments in the hospitality industry. Moreover, tax receipts are recorded only by county, not by municipality.
However, the DRA maintains a list of "operators," or businesses liable for meals and rooms tax, by municipality, which indicates where the largest share of revenues are collected. Currently there are 646 "operators" in Belknap County, 188 of them in Laconia, 99 in Gilford, 94 in Meredith, 70 in Alton, 74 in Tilton. 36 in Belmont, 23 in Sanbornton, 22 in Center Harbor, 18 in Gilmanton, 13 in New Hampton and 9 in Barnstead. Nearly three-quarters of the "operators" are located in the four municipalities with extensive waterfront, which would likely benefit from the proposed change to the distribution formula.
In fiscal year 2012 total meals and rooms tax receipts collected in Belknap County amounted to $13,343,206, or about 5.5-percent of all revenues from the tax. That same year the eleven municipalities in the county received $2,684,115 in revenue from the tax, or 4.6-percent of the $58.8-million distributed throughout the state. Laconia received $712,514, Belmont $328,578, Gilford $318,310, Meredith $278,800, Alton $234,513, Barnstead $205,183, Gilmanton $168,709, Tilton $159,333, Sanbornton $132,503, New Hampton $96,698 and Center Harbor $48,974.  
Compared to the $13.3-million in receipts collected in Belknap County in fiscal year 2012, Rockingham and Hillsborough counties, the two most populous in the state, accounted for $76.2-million and $63.3-million, or 32-percent and 27-percent, of all revenues during the same period. Receipts totaled $21.5-million in Grafton County, $19.7-million in Merrimack County, $16.9-million in Carroll County and $14.4-million in Strafford County. Belknap County seventh, ahead of Cheshire County at $8.1-million, Coos County at $6.7-million and Sullivan County at $5.9-million. Basing a share of the apportionment on the origin of tax receipts would appear to favor those municipalities with most establishments in the counties generating the most revenue at the expense of others.
Senate Bill 121 is schgeduled to be heard by the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, February 12 at 9:15 a.m. in Room 103 of the Statehouse.