New Hampshire voters will decide Tuesday who they send to Congress and the State House. But a question on the back of the ballot is generating its own political campaign and could affect taxpayers far more than anything else up for a vote that day. “Question 2” asks voters if they want to limit increases to their local school taxes.
The actual wording on the ballot is more complicated, and its potential implications for taxpayers and schools have become divisive. So much so that opponents, supporters, and public school advocates have spent weeks trying to translate its potential impacts to voters — or rather, their competing views of its potential impacts.
Cap supporters say a “yes” vote will bring taxpayers much-needed local “property tax relief.” Opponents warn the ballot measure could lead to devastating school budget cuts. Their message to voters: “Protect our schools” by rejecting the cap. Meanwhile, school officials across the state are holding public hearings on the potential impacts for their own schools.
The cap measure will read this way on the ballot:
“If adopted for a two-year period: (1) the local property tax levy may not grow beyond the prior year's amount, adjusted for inflation and new construction; (2) SAU central office spending may not exceed 6 percent of total school district appropriations; and (3) bonded capital costs are excluded from both limits.”
It goes on to say:
“These caps apply only to administrative operations of the SAU central office and do not affect classroom instruction, school-based services, or other municipal expenditures.”
The property tax cap, which must garner 60% of the vote to pass, will apply to only the communities that adopt it. It is not a statewide cap. The cap won’t lower a person’s property tax bill or prevent it from increasing. Instead it will control how quickly school taxes increase.
Here’s how both sides are trying to sway voters.
‘Property tax relief’
Republican lawmakers put the tax cap on a ballot that will go before voters in every town and city for a reason.
They argue that school leaders are taking advantage of low voter turnout at annual school district meetings to pass unbridled spending. The November election draws much larger voter turnout.
“We believe that the [annual town meeting] process is inherently broken and is being intentionally manipulated,” Rep. Ross Berry, a Weare Republican, said when he introduced the bill at the Legislature. The tax cap ballot measure “is what we view as the solution to that manipulation.”
Republican lawmakers have created an online calculator that allows property owners to estimate their own tax savings under a cap. The calculator is based on a 3% inflation rate, a community’s existing school tax rate, and an annual 6% increase in school spending.
It estimates the owner of a $687,000 home in Londonderry — the median assessed value in that town — would save $1,969 in taxes over five years under a cap, or about $390 annually. If the cap passed in Manchester, the owner of a $304,300 home — the median price of a single-family home there — would save less, according to the calculator: $732 over five years or about $150 a year.
Tax cap supporters vehemently dispute that a cap would lead to cuts to staff, extra-curricular activities, or classes that would affect students. If budget cuts are necessary to meet a cap, they say school districts can trim the superintendent’s administrative budget.
They dismiss concerns from school officials who say uncontrolled spikes in mandated costs like health insurance and special education could leave them no choice but to make cuts beyond just their administrative budgets.
And some Republicans have downplayed public opposition to the cap.
During a public hearing in Londonderry this month, state Senate President Sharon Carson said she was unaware of anyone challenging the tax cap in court.
“Oftentimes if the language is not clear, organizations will sue and say, ‘Oh, it's not clear,’ ” Carson said. “As far as I know, I don't think anything's happened.”
Media outlets widely reported in September that two taxpayers sued to keep the tax cap off the ballot, saying the wording was too confusing and misleading. A judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying the argument was speculative and that any confusion about the question could be addressed with voter guides or public hearings.
‘Protect our schools’
Democrats and other cap opponents are taking a nuanced approach that attempts to acknowledge property tax concerns while focusing more on a cap’s potential impact on schools and students. During an October meeting hosted by public education advocates, an attendee asked how to do both without appearing to dismiss concerns about high property taxes.
“That is probably going to be one of the toughest challenges people face,” said Zandra Rice Hawkins, executive director of Engage NH, which co-hosted the meeting. “We would turn it around and say our property taxes are high because the state doesn't pay its fair share of education.”
While the Legislature has increased state education funding to communities, they note that New Hampshire ranks near the bottom nationally for state support to schools. And in recent years, state aid has not kept pace with the rate of inflation, forcing local taxpayers to cover more of the cost of public schools.
“State politicians currently do not want to fund public education,” said Rice Hawkins.
That’s the backdrop to their biggest argument: Students and schools may suffer under a cap.
Several pro-public education groups collaborated on a 39-page guide to defeating the tax cap that lays out their fears over budget cuts. They’ve cited double digit increases in health insurance, rising special education expenses, transportation costs that are outpacing inflation. Decreases in state and federal aid must be made up with local taxes.
School district leaders have echoed those concerns in recent weeks.
The Londonderry School District says it’s looking at a $2 million budget cut under a cap. At a meeting earlier this month, Amity Small, the district’s business administrator, said the school board would have to cut things that directly affect students, including advanced courses, bus routes, athletics, music and career technical programs.
“You can’t just cut your paper clips or things like that to get to that number,” Small said.
