A judge has cleared the way for a ballot question that asks New Hampshire voters to cap school taxes to appear on the November ballot. Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Daniel St. Hilaire dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday that argued the question was misleading and too confusing to go before voters.
St. Hilaire concluded the plaintiff’s legal arguments were unlikely to prevail, in part because he found their evidence "speculative and uncertain."
In their lawsuit, Warner taxpayer David Bates and Campton School Board member Kelly Wieser said the ballot question, which was initiated by State House Republicans earlier this year, fails to make clear whether voters are being asked to limit school taxes, cap administrative costs, or both.
The ballot question reads:
“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.”
The question also says the caps would not affect “classroom instruction” or “school-based services.” In their lawsuit, Bates and Wieser called that misleading, saying “implementing the caps will inevitably impact those very services.”
The state’s lawyers defended the tax cap ballot question at a court hearing last week.
"There are some questions that the courts have recognized are political questions that need to be resolved in the political process,” Attorney Sam Garland of the New Hampshire Department of Justice told St. Hilaire.
The Republican-backed legislation requires the question to appear on the ballot in every New Hampshire city and town on Election Day this November and again in 2028. It passed the New Hampshire Legislature without Democratic support earlier this year
Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed the bill in July, saying it would “protect local taxpayers.”
