In New Hampshire, property taxes are not a theoretical issue. They show up in escrow payments, rent increases, and “maybe we should move” conversations at kitchen tables across Sullivan County. So when we hear speeches and posts claiming that property taxes are high because Republicans “shifted burdens,” “broke promises,” or “underfunded” education, we think the public deserves a more serious explanation than a blame story.
Here is our view, grounded in a conservative approach to public policy: focus on incentives, tradeoffs, and results. If a claim cannot survive that treatment, it is not a solution. It is a slogan.
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Tag: finance
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A Sullivan County Republican Committee View: Why the Property Tax Narrative Misses the Point
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Insufficient and Unfair, or Just Misdiagnosed?
The Democratic case in brief
The argument starts with a moral contrast. New Hampshire is a wealthy state, yet its budgets allegedly underfund core needs such as housing, clean energy, public safety, and education. Four points drive the claim.
- Leaders say “no funds available,” which is presented as a choice rather than a constraint.
- High local property taxes are displacing homeowners and renters.
- The tax code is regressive, with lower-income households paying a higher share of income in state and local taxes than top earners.
- Public education funding is described as constitutionally inadequate, which forces property-poor towns to raise unsustainable local taxes.
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SchoolCare, Claremont, and the Health-Cost Shock Wave
Claremont’s Shock Invoice
Claremont’s school budget crisis—already a five-alarm fire—now has an accelerant: a nearly $870,000 mid-year invoice from SchoolCare, the nonprofit health-benefits pool that covers many NH districts. That bill lands atop an existing ~ $5 million deficit and tight cash-flow projections, forcing immediate triage on spending and reserve use.
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Keep the Spine: Fund NH Schools with Property Tax—not Sales or Income Taxes.
The following is the opinion of the author and should not be construed as the policy of the Sullivan County GOP or any elected representatives.
Parents owe their children an education before anyone owes Concord another revenue stream. The obligation runs from family to child, with the community as a secondary obligee because it lives with the downstream effects: neighbors who can read a budget, track a town warrant, evaluate evidence, and serve when called, voting, jury duty, and, in the broad constitutional sense, the unorganized militia. If we order duties that way, parents first, community second, state as backstop, the funding question looks different. The right mechanism keeps authority near consequences, makes costs visible to the people who approve them, and resists the political reflex to send the bill to “someone else.” In New Hampshire, that mechanism is the property tax, not a sales tax and not an income tax.
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IN MEMORIAM: THE INTEREST AND DIVIDENDS TAX
IN MEMORIAM: THE INTEREST AND DIVIDENDS TAX
House Republicans and Friends Across New Hampshire,
In case you missed the funeral that we held this past week, allow me to continue to put a little more “fun” in “funeral” by offering an obituary for the Interest and Dividends tax.
The Interest and Dividends tax, or as I call it, the insidious and despicable tax, was established in 1923. From the second that we get our first jobs, we are told about the importance of saving money and setting aside funds for our eventual retirement. For over 100 years, the Interest and Dividends tax siphoned funds from your savings and funneled it into the pockets of the state government.
However, in 2021, as part of House Republicans’ transformational symphony of reforms in our state budget, we rid our state of this stain on the New Hampshire Advantage and put the full phase-out of this income tax into motion. Of course, Democrats tried to perform CPR on the tax and filed multiple attempts to reinstate it, but House Republicans stood strong until this tax took it’s place six feet underground. And thanks to Republican leadership, the Interest and Dividends tax was fully laid to rest on January 1, 2025.
While reasonable Granite Staters will truly celebrate the demise of this income tax, it will live on in the delusions of Democrats who claim that people, “want to pay” income taxes. Thankfully, House Republicans will work to ensure that this tax does not rise from the dead like a zombie or someone voting for Democrats from beyond the grave.
In memory of the Interest and Dividends tax, I urge you to take a moment to look at your retirement savings or bank account. You can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the State of New Hampshire will not be using it to fund any wasteful spending projects, and you can allocate it for the purpose it was meant for, a long and happy retirement right here in the 603.
As Democrats clutch their pearls over people keeping more of their hard earned money, they are already threatening to use their allies on schools boards to raise your taxes. However, I would like to turn your attention to one of the tools which Republicans have sent you to help contain the situation. With a 60% of a local vote, citizens can now impose a spending cap on school districts. Democrats unanimously opposed this. So as Republicans fight to lower taxes wherever possible, Remember that Democrats are never actually interested about reducing taxes, only playing a game of left-pocket-right-pocket with your money.
Live Free or Die,
Jason Osborne
House Majority Leader