Voters in Merrimack Valley, Hillsboro-Deering and Pembroke are among the sixteen school districts — and counting — in the county where voters adopted a school district tax cap.
In a midterm election that dealt heavy blows to the Republican Party, a statewide school tax cap ballot question seems to be a small win for the party. However, for school administrators and board members, the adoption of a cap was a disappointment that will create uncertainty going forward.
In the Merrimack Valley School District, Superintendent Catherine Masterson said the adoption of a tax cap was frustrating, especially after administrators had worked to achieve a financial rebound after taxpayers rejected the district’s proposed budget in 2025.
“We heard [taxpayers,] we respected them and we have taken significant actions to make change, while ensuring that our students still have a high-quality experience,” Masterson said. “And in spite of all of those efforts, we find ourselves once again in a very precarious situation.”
When the Merrimack Valley budget was amended two years ago, Masterson said the district reduced faculty positions by 19, two of which have since been restored.
“We have continued to run 17 positions short of where we had previously been,” Masterson said. “There isn’t fluff in our budget.”
The ballot question included two limits. If 60% of all voters within a school district voted ‘yes,’ school budgets would not be allowed to increase the school district portion of local property taxes by more than the rate of inflation. The second part of the question would cap the spending of the school administrative unit (SAU) to 6% of total school district appropriations, requiring 60% of all voters within the SAU to vote ‘yes.’
One limit could pass without the other. Bonded capital costs are excluded from both limits.
Although results are still rolling in, the Merrimack County school districts where voters have adopted the cap include: Merrimack Valley, Pembroke, Deerfield, Chichester, Allenstown, Epsom, Pittsfield, Laconia, Hill, Weare, Gilmanton, Franklin, Hillsboro-Deering, Dunbarton, Belmont and Barnstead.
Republican Rep. Ross Berry, who championed the bill requiring the tax cap question to appear on ballots, said he expected the cap to be popular among voters. Berry, who lost his own re-election bid Tuesday, said he was surprised to see such a divide between the tax cap’s success and the Republican Party’s losses.
“It touches on everything that’s happening. It’s housing; it’s affordability; it’s taxes. It just touches on so many things that voters are obviously concerned about,” Berry said.
‘There isn’t fluff in our budget’: school districts react
In October, the Merrimack Valley school board, like many others across the state, released a statement opposing the tax cap’s adoption. It said the district’s largest cost drivers, including special education, health insurance and transportation are largely outside the board’s control.
“The cap would not change those obligations; it would only reduce the revenue available to meet them,” read the statement, attributed to Board Chair Tracy Bricchi.
While specific implications are unknown, Business Administrator Sam York said the cap will be a topic of discussion and that student needs are the district’s top priority.
In school administrative unit 67, the Dunbarton School District adopted the tax cap, while the much larger Bow School District did not.
Clement Madden, chair of the Dunbarton School Board, said a complication of this outcome is in the district’s Authorized Regional Enrollment Area (AREA) tuition agreement with Bow, which allows middle and high school students to attend Bow schools.
“It’s a contracted cost that we have to pay,” Madden said. “They didn’t pass any tax cap in their district, so they can budget how they like and as they see fit. They’re great partners and we’re happy to work with them, but that would affect our regular education in Dunbarton Elementary School if those costs go up.”
As a small school district, Madden said Dunbarton would be hit particularly hard because it does not carry a large unreserved fund balance. The district already doesn’t have any leeway if unexpected costs arise, like an out-of-district placement, he said.
“A larger school district, they have a little bit more room in their budgets to move around just because of the sheer size of their budget,” Madden said. “We don’t have that kind of room. We don’t over-budget at all.”
Still, Madden urged community members not to lose heart or perspective.
“We’re going to get everything done that we can get done,” Madden said.
In Franklin, where a municipal tax cap is already built into the town’s charter, the school district tax cap passed with a 62% majority. Franklin School District Superintendent Dan LeGallo said he and administrators are still figuring out what will change.
While he does not anticipate a problem with the 6% administrative unit cap, he said he is a little concerned about the implications of a tax cap specific to the school district budget.
“That’s what I have to dig into now to see how much of a difference that is between the existing tax cap and now this new tax cap that’s layered on top of the one that we already had,” LeGallo said.
The Franklin School District already cut programs and educators due to a tight budget from its existing tax cap. Earlier this fall, LeGallo said among the cuts were assistant principals, reading specialists, a computer teacher and a social worker.
Athletics and extracurriculars were at risk, but had been saved through some work on the budget and fundraising efforts. LeGallo said he was worried that athletic and extracurricular programs would be in danger once again with less funding.
“I’m very concerned for our future with our adequacy aid going down,” LeGallo said. “I anticipate a very difficult budget season and I’m worried about losing more programming than we’ve already lost at this point.”
The tax cap ballot question did not pass in Concord, with 52% of voters in favor. Concord Board of Education President Pamela Walsh said what she saw on Tuesday was a real call for the state to increase its aid and funding for public education.
“I think the board understands how many families are struggling with their property taxes in Concord. We are all property taxpayers and face similar challenges,” Walsh said. “The struggle we have, and I think the message people sent across, is we need the state to step up and meet its responsibility to public education.
Walsh acknowledged that although the cap did not pass, taxpayers are struggling and the board plans to look for ways to bring in non-property tax revenue.
“On our side, we continue to work to try and reduce costs, and to be creative about how we bring in revenue,” Walsh said. “I was pleased that we have permission to sell the Dewey School, which will allow us to reduce operational expenses.”
Thoughts from the polls
Jim Van Dongen, a Concord Ward 10 voter, strongly opposed the tax cap as he headed to the polls on Tuesday, calling the measure “absolute nonsense.”
“It’s a serious problem that the state has been giving my tax money away to people who want to send their kids to private schools,” Van Dongen said. “I have nothing against private schools, but you pay for them yourself. Now, I have no objection to paying for public schools.”
Van Dongen said when he was growing up, others paid property taxes for him to receive an education. He said he has no problem doing the same for public school students in Concord.
Homeowners should have some relief, said Joe Martin, another Ward 10 voter. He said the tax cap would be a start.
“You never really own your home,” Martin said. “We have older friends that now own their homes and struggle to pay their taxes — elderly working on social security. It’s not right for those folks to own their home and they could lose their home if they didn’t pay their taxes.”
Paul Zaffini, a voter in Ward Five, felt the ballot question was a ruse from the Republicans. He said he felt it was a distraction from the state underfunding education.
“Virtually every town has issue with real estate taxes to pay for schools. Every town,” Zaffini said. “So that says to me, not every town is mismanaging school budgets. There’s another issue.”
Cassandra Hoefs, voting in Loudon, said she cares deeply about education but feels the district budget process has not been completely transparent.
“I don’t know that I think capping it is best for our students, because no matter what they do now they’re in the hole, and our students are going to end up losing sports or arts or anything that’s considered extra and not core academic disciplines,” Hoefs said. “It will take a while to come back from that, but I don’t think New Hampshire’s the only one facing that.”
