Lucy Nichols of Canterbury headed in to vote Tuesday unsure about one thing: whether to support a new cap on local property taxes that fund schools.
“I do believe the taxes in Canterbury are stupid high,” said Nichols, 67. “And I think the quality of the [elementary] school is very good, but I have doubts about the middle and high schools. Paying a lot for them when I’m uncertain about their quality gives me pause.”
Nichols wasn’t alone.
Question 2 asked voters to consider if they want to limit increases of their property taxes to not exceed the prior year’s increase adjusted for inflation plus the value of new construction. The question says the cap would not affect classroom instruction or school-based services but local school officials have disputed that.
The cap will apply to only the communities that pass it by 60%. It will last just two years unless communities vote to continue it.
The concept may be clear but the actual wording was so complicated that opponents and supporters launched competing campaigns warning of its implications. It remains to be seen how that messaging landed.
Tom Cooper, of Northfield, voted yes on “Question 2” because he thinks it will bring property tax relief — if not clarity. “I think it's going to create a lot of confusion, but I voted yes anyway,” Cooper said.
Tyler Breckinridge, 32, of Belmont, had a different perspective. He teaches U.S. history in the Newfound Area School District, which already prohibits property taxes from increasing more than 2% annually. He said the cap hasn’t lowered taxes in that district but has made it harder to support the schools. Teachers didn’t get a pay raise this year, he said, because the new contract would have exceeded the cap and voters failed to override the cap.
“[The cap] is actually preventing us from getting funding,” Breckinridge said. “I view it as the state’s way of saying, ‘Look, we did something,’ while doing nothing when you need actual reform.”
His answer: Raise revenue by legalizing marijuana or adopt a sales tax.
Marty Vaughn in Canterbury said he voted against the cap but not necessarily because he opposed it.
“I've kind of followed it but I don't quite understand everything,” said Vaughn. “It's kind of frustrating. It's not clear.”
As Ricardo Crespo, 37, of Tilton, headed to the polls, he said he’d likely vote against the cap.
“I see where people have issues especially here in the state taxes where people can barely afford their homes and taxes,” said Crespo, who works in cybersecurity. “But it's more a systematic problem that we have had for a long time on how we budget.”
In Epsom, Elisabeth Gelston-Yoon said she is expecting a big property tax bill because her home was recently reevaluated. She said she is in favor of trying out the tax cap, although she doesn't think it will make a huge impact on her bills anyway.
“I say it's sort of a good start because we can go from there or we can say, ‘Oops, this was a mistake. Let's, you know, retract,’ ” she said. “It's quite minimal in my mind.”
NHPR reporter Jackie Harris contributed to this story.
