A reader took issue with a recent post featuring a CATO report that ranked New Hampshire number 2 for Personal and Economic Freedom.
Maybe the Cato should ask these people for some help with their numbers www.statedatalab.org. I am a NH resident. NH has high property taxes along with high vehicle registration and electricity all of these are quality of life bills.
Places like Peterborough that had NEBS, NCR, Brookstone, EMS are dying and putting in multifamily and high end elderly housing won’t help. The internet in NH is unregulated and horrible so no companies are going to come into the region. Kids that are graduating don’t stay. There is no wage growth when you have 11 percent inflation. NH needs a sales tax to offset the the school and town taxes.
NH needs a sales tax to offset the school and town taxes? No, it doesn’t.
Yes, we have ‘high’ property taxes but consistently rank as having one of the lowest overall tax burdens in the nation. You can’t leave that part out because they are connected.
Property taxes, getting that bill twice a year, connects the taxpayer to the actual cost of their government. If the IRS collected taxes from individuals the same way (instead of dribbling them out of payroll checks every week or two) taxes would be lower everywhere.
Income taxes and sales taxes are deceptive. Property taxes, annual fees for things like vehicle registrations, are a bucket of ice water on sleeping taxpayers. Hey, wake up! They are taking your money. Are you interested to know why they want so much?
Speaking of why so much?
If you are looking for resources start asking why it costs New Hampshire an average of $15,000.00 dollars per student per year for a “public school” when we see better outcomes from charter ($6600/per), home (no taxpayer cost), and private schools (median $7500/per) for a fraction of that public school price?
Electricity rates are high because of government meddling so the answer to that is what? More government meddling? The honest answer is coal, natural gas, and nuclear but between the NIMBY’s and fear-mongers we’re left with 17th-century solutions like sunshine, wind, and wood. If anyone thinks those will attract new business or manufacturing Mark Fernald has an income tax idea to sell you.
As for the other bits, New Hampshire is currently enjoying an employees market. High demand at all levels. Unemployment below 3%. The highest labor force participation rate in the State’s history. More people are working and there is nothing wrong with our wages. We’ve got low poverty, high standards of living and quality of life, low crime, and above-average health outcomes.
I am unwilling to separate our commitment to a low overall tax burden, smaller government, and more local control from all these other positive outcomes. The ice-water system of property taxes underscores all these successes which are not just uncommon among states that rely on other forms of taxation they are rare. Whatever other problems you think New Hampshire has added a broad-based tax will make them worse, not better.
But the tax and spenders will not give up. They want you sleepy so they can milk you.
I respectfully decline to be milked.
