O P I N I O N

THE SOAPBOX

Stand up. Speak up. It’s your turn.

Recently, during the debate on HB 1300, over property tax caps, Representative Ross Berry (R-Weare) accused the House Democrats of laughing at the fact that Granite Staters are being taxed out of their homes. Au contraire, we were chuckling at his fake concern when he lamented that “something must be done.”

If people are being taxed out of their homes, we should absolutely be outraged. But we should also be honest about who bears responsibility. He and the rest of the free-staters need to stop blaming the Dems with their hypocritical finger-pointing, knowing that they, and their Republican allies, have had the majority at the NH State House for the better part of the last 12 years.

If people are being taxed out of their homes, we should absolutely be outraged. But we should also be honest about who bears responsibility.

The primary driver of New Hampshire’s property tax crisis is not local government. It is state government.

For years, Republican majorities in Concord have downshifted more and more costs onto cities and towns while refusing to provide adequate state funding for essential services. Local communities are expected to educate our children, maintain roads and bridges, support public safety, address public health challenges, and meet countless state mandates. Yet the state continues to reduce its share of funding and expects municipalities to somehow make up the difference.

There is only one place local officials can go when Concord downshifts costs: the property tax bill.

This isn’t complicated economics. It’s basic math.

When the state cuts aid to municipalities, local property taxes rise. When the state underfunds public education, local property taxes rise. When the state imposes mandates without providing funding, local property taxes rise.

Then, after creating the problem, Republican legislators point to rising property taxes and blame local officials.

That is not leadership. It is political theater.

New Hampshire has one of the most regressive tax systems in the nation. We rely more heavily on local property taxes than almost any other state. As a result, retirees on fixed incomes, working families, and first-time homebuyers are paying the price for decisions made in Concord.

Property tax caps are often presented as a solution, but a cap does not eliminate the underlying costs. It simply forces municipalities to cut services, defer maintenance, reduce investments in public safety, or find creative ways to work around the restrictions. The roads still need repair. The schools still need funding. Emergency services still need to respond when residents call.

A tax cap treats the symptom while ignoring the disease.

The real solution is for the state to stop balancing its books on the backs of local property taxpayers.

If state leaders truly believe people are being taxed out of their homes, then they should stop downshifting costs to cities and towns. They should fully fund public education. They should restore municipal revenue sharing. They should stop passing unfunded mandates. They should recognize that local property taxes have become the state’s unofficial mechanism for tax increases.

The people of New Hampshire deserve an honest conversation about why their tax bills keep rising.

The answer isn’t hard to find.

Republicans have controlled the governor’s office, the House, the Senate, or some combination of all three for much of the past decade. During that time, property taxes have continued to climb while the state’s share of funding for local responsibilities has failed to keep pace.

If homeowners are being taxed out of their homes, the blame belongs squarely with those who have been making state policy.

Before Representative Berry accuses Democrats of laughing at struggling taxpayers, he should take a closer look at who has been steering the ship.

Granite Staters are right to be angry about rising property taxes. But they should direct that anger where it belongs: at a state government that continues to shift costs downward while pretending someone else is responsible for the bill.

Rep Berry is right about one thing: something must be done. How about we vote out the free-staters who voted in opposition to what their constituents wanted, and in support of what they didn’t? Let’s send them back to their home states and not support the Republicans who voted with them.

We all know that the definition of crazy is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I think 12 years is enough. Help us get different results for New Hampshire.