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News from everywhere *but* Central New Hampshire.

Hampton Selectman Wants to Know How Much the Town Pays in Rooms and Meals Tax

Cheryl Senter

A Hampton selectman is surveying local businesses in an effort to discover exactly how much the town contributes to state coffers through the rooms and meals tax.

New Hampshire's tax on rooms and meals is levied by the state and then redistributed to towns on the basis of population. Cities and towns get more money if they have more people.

Hampton Selectman Regina Barnes says that formula is a bad deal for her town, because with its many restaurants and hotels, it puts more in than it gets out.

But she’s not sure how much more they put in because the state doesn't track the data at a town level. So she’s asking Hampton businesses to report it in a survey.

“Hampton sustains the financial status of the state of New Hampshire and all I’m trying to do is gather as much hard evidence as I can from the town side.”

Meanwhile, the town is also taking legal action against the state in an effort to get reimbursed for ambulance services at Hampton Beach, which is a state owned property.

Jason Moon is a senior reporter and producer on the Document team. He has created longform narrative podcast series on topics ranging from unsolved murders, to presidential elections, to secret lists of police officers.
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