The Battle over Taxes in New Hampshire

MANCHESTER, N.H. — More than 100 New Hampshire legislators gathered Wednesday morning at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics to sign Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge, putting a written no-new-taxes commitment on the record as voters prepare to decide on a school property-tax cap this November.

The lawmakers, overwhelmingly Republican, signed the pledge that commits them to “oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.” Organizers presented the mass signing as a public affirmation of fiscal restraint in a state that has long prided itself on having no broad-based income or sales tax.

New Hampshire relies primarily on property taxes to fund local schools and services. Rising assessments have outpaced inflation in many communities even as student enrollment has declined, making the upcoming ballot question especially significant. Under HB 1300, a law signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte earlier this year, every city and town will ask voters on Nov. 3 whether to limit school property-tax growth to the rate of inflation plus new construction for two years. The measure would also cap school administrative spending at 6 percent of total appropriations. A three-fifths majority is required for the cap to take effect, and the same question will appear again in 2028.

Local attempts to limit property-tax growth through petitions have occurred in some New Hampshire towns in the past. The new statewide ballot question, by contrast, will ask voters in every city and town during the high-turnout November election.

Republicans in the legislature have repeatedly tried — so far without success — to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot permanently banning an income or sales tax. Some Democratic lawmakers have pre-filed bills that would create one or both taxes. Wednesday’s pledge ceremony was framed by participants as reinforcing the state’s existing low-tax posture while the property-tax-cap vote gives local taxpayers a direct say over school spending growth.

Supporters say the written pledge and the ballot question work together to keep higher taxes off the table. Critics of the tax-cap approach argue it could constrain school budgets for costs that do not track inflation, such as special education and salaries.

The property-tax-cap question will appear on ballots across the state Nov. 3.