Michele Flynn of Hillsborough nearly had a heart attack when she saw her recent property tax bill. After the town’s revaluation of her property in 2025, she learned earlier this year that she would be paying $4,000 more in property taxes.
“Where am I going to get this?” Flynn said. “It’s scary.”
Property taxes like Flynn’s pay for the lion’s share of public school costs in New Hampshire. A new report from the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute finds property taxpayers fund more than seven out of every 10 dollars spent on New Hampshire’s public schools — about 72%. That money includes both the municipal tax and the Statewide Education Property Tax.
The state’s share of school funding, on the other hand, has declined in recent years. According to the report, New Hampshire now ranks last nationally for the percentage of public education revenue provided by state funding.
Granite Staters will vote this November on whether they want to limit spending on schools and administrative costs in their communities, a measure that Gov. Kelly Ayotte and other State House Republicans have described as a property tax cap.
Flynn said with her high property tax bill and gas and grocery costs, she doesn’t think she’ll be able to retire anytime soon. She’s 62, but her husband is on worker’s compensation from a brain injury and her 36-year-old daughter lives with them. The family relies on Flynn’s salary to get by.
“I’m struggling to pay my mortgage,” Flynn said. But she doesn’t think the answer is to limit school spending. “I think the taxes are high because the state doesn't pay their fair share.”
She works as the assistant to the superintendent at Sunapee School District, and she’s worked in schools for years. She said capping school budgets would hurt schools’ ability to safely maintain their buildings and provide supplies for kids in the classroom.
“I’d be happy with a 50/50 split [of funding between property taxes and state funding] because we send our kids to the school. We should bear some of that burden,” Flynn said.
But she doesn’t agree with the current division of funding.
“We're suffering,” Flynn said. “We shouldn't be, especially in this state.”
