New Hampshire government famously shies away from taxes, especially with the current legislature. Fees are another matter.
New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute counted it up and said 58 state fees will be created or raised starting Jan. 1, involving everything from boats to vanity license plates, pesticides to motor fuel dispensers, shoreline structures to high-hazard dams. The goal is to make more money to pay for state services, partly to offset revenue losses from tax cuts.
“Facing a revenue shortfall from lower business tax revenues and the repeal of the Interest and Dividends Tax, state lawmakers either increased or established new fees and fines in 125 instances to help balance the state budget,” the group said in its report, released Wednesday. “Many of these new fees have already taken effect and a few are left up to state agencies to set, but about half will take effect starting January 1, 2026.”
Two increases in particular could affect a lot of people: raising prescription drug copayments from $2 to $4 and creating premiums for using the two systems that extend coverage beyond standard Medicare — Medicaid Expansion and Granite Advantage — from zero to as much as $100 a month. However, the Medicaid expansion requires federal approval and the Trump administration has been unclear about whether and when that will happen.
Also having a widespread effect will be a number of increases to motor-vehicle registration, decal and license fees. They are projected to bring an extra $31.5 million to the state Highway Fund during the next year and a half, by far the largest increase in revenue that the Institute found from fees.
Governments have long debated when to use taxes and when to use fees to raise money. Taxes spread out the burden but fees are focused. Fees are also voluntary to an extent, depending on how vital the service is, but if they get too high they can basically cut some people off from their own government.
The entire report can be read at nhfpi.org/blog/2026fees/