New Hampshire: The Real FactsYour Keene 2008-2009 Property Tax Increase: + 7.68% !!!
Folks, I need some advice. The County portion of the property tax is scheduled to increase by a whopping 38.77%.
County Example:
2007-08 - $3,731,326
2008-09 - $5,177,924
Increase: 38.77%
We all know that part of this is the result of the new Jail being placed in Keene. How could this increase have been avoided?
As it stands right now the total Keene property tax increase for fiscal 2008-09 stands at 7.68%. Here is how the rest of it breaks down.
City Example:
2007-08 - $19,756,948
2008-09 - $20,705,505
Increase: 4.8%
Local Education Example:
2007-08 - $22,470,428
2008-09 - $23,898,794
Increase: 6.35%
State education:
2007-08 - $3,852,359
2008-09 - $3,852,359
Increase: 0%
Weighted average:
2007- 08 - $49,811,061
2008- 09 - $53,634,582
Weighted Average Property Tax Increase 2008-09: 7.68%
There will be a public hearing to discuss the city’s 4.8% portion on the increase. This is not yet set in stone. If they were to follow the CPI and their self-imposed tax increase (Page 3 of the operating budget 2008-09) then the increase should only be about 3.5%. This will be my argument for the Public Hearing on June 5th. I encourage all to attend this meeting and make their voice heard.
Carl Panza
Keene, NH
Comments
Taxes out of Control
Carl,
We recently went through something similar in Laconia and Belknap County (you can see some of the history here at my blog "The Blogging Councilor" at www.laconia-nh.us) but I have to admit that the increase we were facing was not as bad. It is difficult to understand that the County Delegation that sets the county budget are the same people that vote on the state budget and pass costs to the county, which in turn passes these costs to the property taxpayers.
In Belknap County we (the City Council) were able to make an impact because we have and support a Spending-Tax-Cap that limits growth the the Consumer Price Index - Urban (CPI-U) and when the county delegation realized that there move would mean people losing their jobs in Laconia they miraculously found more revenue to offset the projected increase. Though this budget is still a sharp increase from what was proposed it was a step in the right direction (from 14% + to just over 10%) but as it turns out the delegation did not pass the budget according to the statutes and the default budget (8% increase) was enacted.
I believe strongly in the Spending-Tax-Caps because they do make a difference for the people that pay the bills. It sounds like you could use some of this type of protection if the City and School Board are passing budgets that rise faster than inflation. When priorities are enacted it makes the whole budgeting process easier and all of the infrastructure and capital improvements can still be done. The main thing a cap does is force the elected representatives to plan into the future better and properly set the priorities that are important to the residents.
Greg Knytych, Laconia Ward 1 Councilor
Tax CAPS
Greg,
Sorry for getting back with you so late. I don't open this excellent website as much as I should. In any event, the Keene property tax spending cap can be over-ridden by a city council vote. However, the biggest fly in the ointment is that the spending cap does not include increases in (1) NHRS, (2) welfare payments, or (3) debt service. The City Council, at the citizen's request, did recently manage to lower the anticipated city property tax portion from 4.8% increase down to 3.99%. My contention is that a spending cap should not have any restrictions, otherwise, what good is it? It takes a lot of discipline.
Carl
City Spending
Carl,
I've been looking at Keene spending relative to other cities and towns in NH. In our population class, only Lebanon spends more per capita than we do.
I worry about the focus to limit the year to year increase ... that assumes that last year's spending level was OK. I'm not sure it is.
I think the real answers will lie in how the budget is allocated. How much to essential services vs. overhead vs. education? How does this compare to other cities?
Keene spent $4493 per capita in 2007. Manchester spent $2423, Concord spent $3317 and Nashua spent $3402.
Tom