State begins to release 2020 tax rates for cities and towns

CONCORD — The state Department of Revenue Administration has begun to release the 2020 municipal tax rates, ranging in the Lakes Region from $7.13 per $1,000 of assessed valuation in Moultonborough, to $25.34 in Belmont.

It is $14.38 in Meredith, $15.33 in Center Harbor, $22.84 in Franklin and $14.47 in Sandwich. 

Many more tax rates will be released in the coming days. 

The rates are a factor in property tax bills, but government spending is the biggest driver of changes in the amount that will be owed by property owners from year to year. 

The state sets the rate by dividing local government spending by the total assessed value of properties.

For example, Moultonborough's total commitment for municipal, county, local education and state education this year is $25.2 million, an increase from $23.9 million last year. 

Its new tax rate of $7.13 is down 2 cents from the 2019 rate, but that doesn’t mean taxes are going down. Taxes vary from property to property, but in the aggregate, they increase to pay for higher spending. 

The town's overall assessed valuation has swollen from $3.3 billion last year to $3.5 billion this year.

If a home were worth $330,000 last year, the property tax rate of $7.15 would have yielded a bill of $2,359. If that same home increased in value to $350,000 this year, the property tax rate of $7.13 would yield a bill of $2,495.

Moultonborough, with its prime lakefront location, has some of the most expensive property in the state, taxes on which pay for government services required by its 4,000 residents. 

By comparison, Laconia, with a population of about 16,500, had a 2019 spending commitment of $45.7 million, a valuation of about $2.2 billion and a tax rate of $20.59. Its 2020 rate is not yet available.

Property tax bills will be mailed out soon.