Andrew Sanborn: In New Hampshire, budget caps and misplaced priorities

To The Daily Sun, 

For months, New Hampshire residents have been told that the state simply does not have enough money to comply with the ConVal court ruling and adequately fund our public schools. At the same time, local school boards are blamed when property taxes rise. This narrative gets the problem backward.

Local school boards are required by law to meet education standards. When the state fails to meet its constitutional obligation, communities are forced to make up the difference through property taxes. Blaming towns for that outcome ignores where the real fiscal decisions are being made: in Concord. The truth is that New Hampshire did have the money — until lawmakers chose to give it away. According to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, business tax cuts since 2016 have resulted in roughly $800 million to over $1 billion in forgone revenue. The repeal of the Interest and Dividends Tax permanently removed another $147 to $184 million per year. Despite these giveaways, New Hampshire’s business tax revenue growth has lagged behind every other New England state. At the same time, the state is spending more than $51 million this year on the Education Freedom Account voucher program, already exceeding its budget by $12 million, with no cap and limited accountability. That money comes from the Education Trust Fund — funds intended for public schools — while public education remains underfunded by an estimated $500 million statewide under ConVal.

Now, some lawmakers want to impose school budget caps that would further restrict local control and hide the state’s fiscal responsibility. Budget caps don’t solve the problem; they simply shift it onto communities already stretched thin. This is not a case of empty pockets. It is a case of misplaced priorities. Until the state stops diverting public resources away from property taxpayers will continue pay the price.

Andrew Sanborn 

Sanbornton