Deborah Walker: The blame for rising property taxes is at the state level

To The Daily Sun,

At recent school district and Town Meetings around Belknap County, voters sent a clear message to Gov. Kelly Ayotte and to their elected representatives in Concord on some financial issues. In Alton, Gilford, Meredith and Sanbornton, voters said they were concerned about the increased downshifting of costs of providing services and growing unfunded mandates coming from Concord that end up increasing property taxes. Voters blamed the loss of state level revenues, including the elimination of the Interest and Dividends Tax and reductions to both the Business Profits and the Rooms and Meals Tax, as one particular reason why this is happening. The result is burgeoning local costs for schools, county services, and costs to provide infrastructure and safety.

In the towns of Gilford and Meredith, voters voiced concerns over a possible loss in local control over school budgets. Recent legislative action on Concord would mandate local education budget caps even though the state contributes less than 30% of education costs. Caps would reduce or eliminate flexibility to respond to enrollment changes, staffing needs, special education, transportation and rising health insurance costs.

In the towns of Alton, Center Harbor, Meredith and New Hampton, voters at town and School District meetings urged their legislators to protect taxpayers by reining in the growing costs of the Education Freedom Account Program (vouchers) that takes public tax dollars to provide school vouchers averaging $5,200 per student for use at religious, private and for home schooling. Originally conceived to help low-income families, the EFA program now has no income limit and is predicted to cost over $100 million dollars over the next two years.

We suggest that when seeking blame for rising property taxes, readers first look to the Republican majority in Concord rather than their selectboard or school board.

Richard DeMark

Deborah Walker

Meredith