Halftime Briefing

During halftime of today's Patriots game, take just 8 minutes to watch the informational video about HB 1300 and learn more about Question 2 and what it means for the Mason School District.

Get informed, understand the facts, and make your voice heard at the polls on Tuesday, November 3!

Informational Video

HB 1300

Show Transcript

this November voters in every town in the granite state will see a question on their general election ballot should their local school districts property taxes be capped in this video we'll Explain the law behind the tax cap question that will be on your balance what's in a school budget and how districts across New Hampshire Steward tax dollars for the benefit of all students and communities detail the key drivers out of local school District's control that have contributed to property tax increases in many towns and cities in the granite state and will show how a tax cap law could deliver unintended consequences where it goes into effect earlier this see are the New Hampshire General Court passed a school district tax cap bill which Governor aot signed into law in July here's what the law does it puts a question on the general election ballot in November asking voters if their local school districts property taxes should be capped any Community where 60% of its voters approved the question with a yes vote would legally limit their local school district from passing a budget that raises local taxes by more than the annual rate of ation in our region plus any new taxable property growth from new or expanded property it would also require school districts to budget no more than 6% of their annual funds on General management functions like information technology payroll and legal services any school district under a tax cap would also not be able to budget additional revenue from property reassessments or from Market appreciation of existing property limits would remain in effect for 2 years then in November 2028 voters will be asked the same question again requiring the same 60% supermajority to pass to place the same limits on their local district for another 2 years while the new law puts 6 caps on the November ballot people in every community in New Hampshire have already had this power for more than 15 years chapter 32 of New Hampshire State statutes allows for any citizen to petition a warrant article on a tax cap at their town meeting or deliberative session for consideration by their community every year our local school districts have to approve balanced budgets that provide an equitable education for every student the overwhelming majority of this money is spent on classroom instruction while the numbers vary from District to District the overwhelming majority usually about 80 cents of every dollar in the average Local School District budget is spent on professional Educators their salaries and the contractually required required benefits they bargain for then include instructional materials and supports to students to get the resources they need to learn and grown and then add all of the expenses to operate safe and secure schools from school resource officers to Staffing sec your vestibules transportation to get every student to and from school safely facilities and utilities and all together most school districts in New Hampshire have allocated well over 95% of their budget dollar before any discretion choices are even considered New Hampshire's public school districts do this each year even in the face of declining enrollment this may sound like something that should save tax dollars but declining enrollment has the opposite effect on our schools that's because the cost to educate each student goes up when this happens because declining enrollment doesn't reduce the size of school buildings or the cost to operate them and while it might reduce the size of individual classes in small ways every class no matter its size still requires a professional educator to teach its students in the subjects mandated by our state and federal government subjects where our students consistently outperform most of their peers around the nation school districts in New Hampshire are 1 of the strongest examples of local control that make up our identity as granite stirrers the costs that are driving most School District budgets upward in recent years however are anything but local under the new new tax cap law a community could limit a school district's new tax levy to the rate of inflation but many key expenses are dramatically outpacing inflation which averaged 4.1% in the 12 months before the tax cap question was signed into law these these are things like fuel costs gas is up in our area more than 30% over the last year heating oil about 38% and Diesel which many buses run on more than 40% health insurance costs which many families and business can relate to dozens of school districts in New Hampshire were assessed surprise fees in the past year many districts faced increases 4 or 5 times higher than the rate of inflation out of District placements to serve the most vulnerable students School District's pay in the form of tuition for students to receive accommodations not available in their communities but school districts have no say or bargaining power to determine these costs the State caps increases to this tuition at 5% a year which means these cost 2 outpace inflation nearly every year a decline in federal funding school districts not only have to approve their budgets before they know how much money is coming from Washington but the federal education department has not funded its own special education law 12 to 15% of costs to serve students with disabilities when it promised 40 this transfers tens of millions of dollars in obligations onto local school districts to make up the difference to comply with federal law a similar thing is happened with State funding in recent years state adequacy aid from Concord to local school districts that ensures every local school district is keeping to State Standards has not kept pace with inflation when you compound the annual inflation rates over the past 11 years the actual cost of living in New Hampshire is increased by about 37.5% the state adequacy aid increased in that same time period by less than 22% that's additional millions of dollars in expenses schools have faced with comparatively less support for when you combine these obligations are local school districts have to provide an equitable education to every student with cost pressures and unfunded mandates they have no control over many local communities have raised taxes to meet their contractual obligations comply with state and federal law and preserve the services and resources they provide every student when a community's local control to fund their schools is limited by a tax cap the only remaining option school district has is to reduce expenses and as we've showed the overwhelming majority of school district expenses are classroom instruction mostly in the form of people reducing funding for classroom instruction not only increases class sizes it can lead unintended follow-on consequences including the competitiveness of our students and their Pathways to higher education and careers the attractiveness of communities for employers to expand into all of which can impact property values which not only directly impacts homeowners but can precipitate a revenue spiral where declining tax roles can place more not less tax burdens on existing property owners We Believe strong and supported schools result in strong and thriving communities and with the support of state and federal lawmakers New Hampshire school districts can deliver a high quality education that helps every student reach their individual potential