Welcome to the Township of Governor's Island, N.H.?

GILFORD — "When did our personal success become an open checkbook for big government?" asked Barbara Aichinger, who is seeking to persuade her neighbors on Governor's Island to secede from the town and establish a separate municipality.

In a manifesto echoing the Founding Fathers, Aichinger opens by explaining that there are 202 taxable properties and 166 residential homes on the island, but just 118 registered voters, which leaves a majority of taxpayers without a vote. Yet the property taxes collected from the island amount to $4.1-million a year, or 14-percent of all receipts.

Aichinger claims that residents receive little in return for their taxes. The Governor's Island Club, Inc. built the five miles of road as well as the other infrastructure and there are currently 12 students from the island enrolled in the Gilford public schools, at a cost Aichinger calculates at $166,666 each. Property owners pay for security services and rubbish collection.

Taxation of property on Governor's Island, Aichinger insists, has reached "the breaking point." Older waterfront properties are listed for sale at prices below their assessed value. High taxes have forced foreclosures and short sales. And property values have fallen. "Stick a fork in us," Aichinger says, "we are done."

Secession and independence, Aichinger projects, would halve the property tax rate. "With the resulting tax rate being one of the lowest in the Lakes Region," she writes, "we will see out island community rise up again and be a sought after place to live."

Aichinger proposes the town of Governor's Island could pay tuition to send its children to school in neighboring municipalities — Gilford, Laconia, Alton or Meredith — or provide them with a stipend to attend a private school for some $265,000 a year. The town could contract with Belknap County, Gilford or Laconia for police patrols and fire protection and hire a private ambulance service, all for less than $60,000. She estimates the salary for a town clerk/tax collector, which is required by law, at $25,000 and allows $12,000 for administrative expenses. She budgets $50,000 for plowing and maintenance of the roads and a reserve fund of $2o0,000 for major reconstruction.

Altogether Aichinger calculates that the islanders could operate a town with an annual budget of about $610,000, which together with the county tax and statewide property tax, would amount to about $1.6-million, compared to $4.1-million. Conceding her estimate may be low, Aichinger said that it could be raised by $400,000 and still the annual aggregate tax burden would be halved.

Aichinger said that she ran for a seat on the board of directors of the Governor's Island Club on a secession platform, but lost. "I'm not really an insider," she said. "I'm a fish out of water." However, she succeeded in convening a tax committee, consisting of Bill Jacobson, David Haley, Susan Bradley, Don Minor and Kevin Attar, and last month pitched her plan to the board.

Aichinger said she was met with "fascination and skepticism. Most think it is not feasible. It has sparked a lot of conversation at cocktail parties, but it is a very long shot."

Secession requires an act of the Legislature, which surely would be strongly opposed by Gilford. The last town formed by secession is Sugar Hill, which left Lisbon in 1962 for motives like those of Aichinger.

Meanwhile, Aichinger said that she will continue to hold forth on the tax issue. "We've encouraged people to question their assessments and file for abatements," she said, adding that so far 16 requests for abatements have been filed and six granted.

"I know people laugh at me," Aichinger continued. "But, I'm sticking to it. I'm trying to light a fire under the people on Governor's Island."