Merrimack County Taxes to Rise
Despite pleas from some cash-strapped communities, the Merrimack County delegation approved a budget last night that will increase property taxes throughout the region. As a result of the vote, the typical homeowner can expect to pay between $70 and $100 more this year.Delegation members, including some who double as selectmen or city councilors, sympathized with efforts to reduce the budget’s impact on residents’ pocketbooks but said they have little choice. Elder care, law enforcement and other county services are more expensive to provide, and costs for health insurance, retirement benefits and fuel are going up.
And they worry that, next year, things are unlikely to improve.
“I definitely understand,” said Rep. Candace White Bouchard, a Concord Democrat who also serves on the city council. “Motor vehicle revenues are down. Interest is down. And the snow! But I also feel it’s very important that we look to the future.”
No one at last night’s hearing disputed the county’s $70.3 million spending plan, a 9.6 percent increase over last year. Instead, the debate focused on revenue. Rep. Leigh Webb, a Franklin Democrat, urged his colleagues to use $2 million more from surplus to subsidize the budget, a measure that would have saved a typical homeowner about $30.
His efforts were supported by community leaders from Franklin and Hill. Franklin Mayor Ken Merrifield had planned to attend the hearing but remained in his city to help residents cope with a fire that killed three people Sunday. Instead, he submitted a letter imploring the delegation to support Webb’s amendment.
“The property taxpayers of Merrimack County face extraordinary demands in this New Hampshire economy,” Merrifield wrote in the letter, which was read by Jim Tullis, Franklin school board’s vice chairman.
Small communities are also feeling the pinch, said Nancy Chaddock, chairwoman of Hill’s budget committee. Hill won’t buy a new fire truck or grant any other new spending requests this year, she said, but the tax rate will increase by 22 percent to more than $23 per $1,000.
“You may not hear from Hill very often,” she said. “But many, many folks in town are on fixed incomes. We are suffering.”
For decades, county taxes were an afterthought for municipal budget writers, but Merrimack County’s expenditures have spiked in recent years. Last night, Commissioner J.D. Colcord said the budget has grown from $30 million to $70 million since he took office four years ago.
Bonds for the new nursing home and jail account for a good chunk of the difference, but Colcord says the county is also grappling with growing fuel and health insurance costs, a dearth of federal grants, and shrinking state aid. He warned delegation members yesterday that things are unlikely to improve. And should the county’s finances really sour, Colcord added, it will be important to have a healthy savings account.
“I wish my crystal ball would let me tell you what (next year’s budget) is,” he said. “But I don’t know what cost-of-living increases are going to be. I don’t know what our energy costs are going to be.”
A handful of delegation members spoke against Webb’s amendment but stressed that they understood his motivations. Rep. Joy Tilton, a Northfield Democrat, summed up the mood when she voted: “No, regretfully.”
Still, this year’s budget includes some tax relief for Merrimack County residents. Budget writers took $2 million in surplus, which Webb’s proposal would have doubled, to defray taxes, leaving $4.5 million in the account for emergencies.
County tax rates are based on a formula that factors in property values, population and other demographic details.
Last night, county leaders provided a spreadsheet showing how the budget would affect each of Merrimack County’s 27 cities and towns.
In Concord, county taxes will increase 34 cents to $2.54 per $1,000 in valuation. That’s $85 for a $250,000 house, which county leaders said is typical of property values in the region.
In Franklin, the tax rate will increase 36 cents, to $2.74.
Hill, meanwhile, will see a 44-cent increase to $3.30.
Source: Concord Monitor