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Statement from the Coalition Communities comprised of 35 former “Donor” communities regarding SB539 becoming law:
This is a sad day for New Hampshire. Although this legislation accomplishes the necessary task of establishing a formula to cost out an adequate education, it also will reinstate the divisive and grossly unfair concept of “Donor communities.”
However, we remain hopeful the Legislature will use the transition period in SB539 to develop a fair education funding formula that ends the sham of the “Statewide” Property Tax for education before “Donor communities” are scheduled to return in July 2011.
For the vast majority of NH municipalities, the “Statewide” Property Tax always has been raised locally, collected locally and remains locally to educate local schoolchildren. Calling it a “state” tax is a fraud. These taxpayers are simply financing local education out of different pockets - one with local school taxes and another with a so-called “statewide” tax.
The only taxpayers forced to surrender “statewide” taxes to Concord, possibly at the expense of educating their own schoolchildren, will be those with high property values due to their zip codes or because their towns took steps to broaden the tax base. Some of the communities scheduled to receive their “donations” have median household incomes of $90,000 or more, and/or will be rewarded for adopting exclusionary zoning policies to remain “bedroom communities” that result in lower per-pupil property values.
We also believe that if it’s a “state” tax, perhaps the State should collect it from every property owner so all taxpayers truly contribute to the education of New Hampshire schoolchildren statewide.
FYI--Our member communities are:
Alton, Bridgewater, Carroll, Center Harbor, Dublin, Easton, Eaton, Franconia, Freedom, Grantham, Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, Hanover, Hart's Location, Hebron, Holderness, Jackson, Lincoln, Meredith, Moultonborough, New Castle, New London, Newington,
North Hampton, Pittsburg, Portsmouth, Rye, Sandwich, Seabrook, Stoddard, Sugar Hill, Sunapee, Tuftonboro Waterville Valley
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