Randolph: Make Concord pay its share
On November 3, voters in Madison, Moultonborough and Tamworth will be asked whether to cap local school taxes. The ballot says the cap will not affect classroom instruction or school-based services. Franklin’s experience says otherwise.
The cap limits how fast school taxes can grow, to inflation plus new taxable property. It cuts no one’s taxes. They still rise, just more slowly. Franklin, which has had a tax cap for more than 30 years, cut an art teacher, a nurse, a social worker and a custodian this summer to stay under it. If 60% of voters approve, the cap binds our schools for two years.
The real problem is state funding. In 1993 and 1997, in the Claremont decisions, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that the state must pay for an adequate education. Last year, in the ConVal case, it found the state still pays too little. Instead of fixing that, House Republicans want to shift part of the duty onto local districts, and our property taxes.
Richard Brown, who represented our district from 2022 to 2024 and is running to return, voted to put the cap on your ballot.
Bryan Randolph of Moultonborough has spent his career in education and mental health. He will vote no on the cap. He wants the state to pay its share, so property taxes stop making up the difference, and our schools give young families a reason to live here.
Vote for Bryan Randolph, and vote no on the cap.