New Hampshire homeowners are hurting. Property tax bills are rising, and families, seniors and small businesses are struggling to keep up. Yet Republican leaders like Sen. Sharon Carson and House Majority Leader Jason Osborne have responded by traveling the state and pointing fingers at Democrats.
After years of Republican control of the Legislature, that argument deserves more than a campaign slogan. It deserves an honest look at the facts.
New Hampshire Democrats did not create the property tax crisis. For years, decisions made in Concord have shifted more and more of the cost of government and public education onto local property taxpayers.
New Hampshire has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country, relying heavily on property taxes to fund essential services, including public schools. As a result, the burden falls disproportionately on those who own property, while people who earn income, operate businesses or generate wealth in other ways may not contribute to the cost of our communities in the same way.
That is not a fair tax system.
And let’s be absolutely clear about something Republicans continue to use to frighten voters: No one in the New Hampshire Democratic Party is proposing a sales tax or an income tax as part of our plan to address property taxes.
Our approach is straightforward. We should restore New Hampshire’s tax structure to the levels that existed before the Free Staters and their allies pushed through tax cuts that reduced state revenues and made it harder for Concord to meet its responsibilities.
Those decisions did not make the cost of government disappear. They simply shifted more of the burden elsewhere.
The state still has to fund public safety, infrastructure, health care, education, and other essential services. When Concord fails to provide its fair share, local governments and school districts are left with fewer options. The result is predictable: higher property taxes.
That is the reality Republican leaders don’t want to discuss.
Instead, Jason Osborne and other Republican leaders are touring New Hampshire and blaming Democrats and local officials for rising property tax bills. But Republicans have controlled the Legislature and set state priorities for years. They cannot claim credit for running the state and then blame everyone else when the consequences of their policies come due.
The Republican response appears to be putting limits on local governments and telling towns to spend less. But a tax cap does not make the cost of educating a child disappear. It does not eliminate police salaries, repair bridges, plow roads or provide emergency services. It simply shifts the pressure somewhere else.
New Hampshire Democrats believe there is a better way.
The state must meet its constitutional responsibility to adequately fund public education. We must restore a greater state share of education funding so communities are not forced to rely so heavily on local property taxes. And we need a fairer tax system in which the responsibility for funding our communities does not fall primarily on the people who happen to own a home or a business here.
This is not about raising taxes for the sake of raising taxes. It is about fairness.
For years, New Hampshire’s tax policies have been tilted in ways that leave property owners carrying an outsized share of the cost. Democrats want to rebalance that system by restoring tax policies that existed before the Free Stater agenda, strengthening the state’s commitment to public education, and making sure everyone contributes their fair share.
We also need to stop pretending that property taxes are purely a local problem. The state sets the rules. The state determines how much it contributes to education. The state makes decisions about tax policy and revenue. Those choices have consequences in every town and city in New Hampshire.
If Republican leaders truly want to lower property taxes, they should stop touring the state looking for someone else to blame and start addressing the underlying problem.
New Hampshire Democrats are ready to do that work.
We will fight to restore the state’s commitment to public education, reduce the burden Concord has shifted onto local property taxpayers and pursue a fairer tax structure in which everyone pays their fair share — not one that asks property owners to shoulder a disproportionate share of the responsibility.
The people of New Hampshire deserve an honest conversation about property taxes. They deserve leaders who will address the real causes instead of inventing political villains.
The property tax crisis did not begin with Democrats, and blaming Democrats will not solve it.
It is time to stop pointing fingers and start fixing the system.
Rep. Wendy Thomas represents the town of Merrimack.