I’ve heard many times about the "38 new taxes and fees" that were instituted by our Legislature in Concord last year, but I didn’t have the facts in front of me. I decided to do some research, and to pass it along. This may be especially helpful to Conservative candidates when going door-to-door, or making statements, explaining to voters why a change in Concord is necessary this November.
Using the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy study (July, 2009, link below), I produced an extract spreadsheet of the taxes and fees that were passed for the following budget years: 2003-2004, 2005-2006, 2007-2008, 2009 (up to June 30, 2009). This spreadsheet is attached.
I also extracted some of the significant and revealing statements from the study (shown below). I suggest you read the full study to get the complete picture.
- You can also see/print a listing of the 2009 Taxes and Fees at the Coalition of NH Taxpayers (CNHT):
- Also on the CNHT website, you can see NH’s Alec-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index rating:
- An interesting summary of the 2009 NH State Budget:
If you are a candidate, you would be well-served to get to know the folks at the CNHT.
Tom
New Hampshire 9.12 Liberty Action Team
…"So far this year, the legislature has passed 38 new or increased taxes and fees that are budgeted to raise $318.6 million over two years. For historical comparisons, there were 29 new taxes and fees passed in the previous two years. In previous legislative sessions, the low has been 9 in 2003-4 with 20 in both 2001-2 and 2005-6. The majority of tax and fee increases have been passed separately from the budget itself."…
…"A study of the total number of tax and fee increases over the last decade shows a consistently high number with the exception of the 2003-2004 legislature. However, the current total for this legislature at 38 is nearly double the 19.5 average of the last four budgets."…
"The largest taxes and the fees that are being used to raise money for new spending tend to be part of the budget process. Many more fees are added on after the budget or in stand alone bills. In the previous four budget cycles, 30 taxes and fees were added as part of the budget and an additional 48 occurred as stand alone bills, many of them in the second year of the legislature. So far this year, 35 have been part of the budget and 3 as stand alone bills. History suggests more fees will be enacted in the next 12 months."
Basically, most of these new taxes and fees are being used to pay for shortfalls in the budget, due to excessive spending, not for increases in the cost of doing business or regulating – spending must be reduced)
…"The exact difference between a tax and fee is something of a judgment call. In general a Tax…
…is an assessment designed to raise unrestricted revenue to fund the general operations of government. Because most taxes are essentially a price tag on economic activity, raising them tends to discourage activities and create a negative impact. This creates a natural and healthy wish to limit tax increases and occasionally propose decreases."…
…"Fees are often small assessments designed to pay for the cost of regulation of that specific activity. Statute often limits the charge to the actual cost of regulation or dedicates the revenue to a specific regulatory fund. Vehicle registration fees, for example, are placed in the highway fund. The new increase in sewage system plan review fees is being dedicated to a ‘Subsurface Systems Fund.’ "…
…"Many fee amounts are set in statute and have to be changed to keep up with costs. However, there is an increasing trend to use fees as a less objectionable source of revenue and increase them largely to fund the operations of the state. For example, auto registration fees have been raised in three of the last five budgets not because the costs associated with registration and licensing have increased but rather as an alternative to increasing the gas tax which is politically more challenging."
"Over the last five budgets spanning a decade, there have been 116 tax and fee increases in New Hampshire, some with a very significant impact and others with a considerably lesser impact. The 38 changes in the most recent legislative session includes some significant and some less so. But the changes made in this budget are numerically greater, qualitatively greater, and with the greatest likely revenue impact at $318 million."
NH House Facts:
Historically, the NH House was dominated by the Republican Party, which held a 249–151 majority at the end of the 2004-6 session. However, even with this 98-vote majority, the Republicans were often divided between the more conservative Republican House Alliance and moderates known as the Main Street Republicans. The division was approximately 141 voting with along RHA lines and 110 voting along Main Street lines if the difference is considered to be the 50% line of the RHA’s 2004 scorecard. However, in the 2006 election, the Democrats swept into control of the chamber and currently hold a majority of seats in the House. It is as yet unclear if divisions between the RHA and Main Street Republicans will remain while in the minority.
NH Senate Facts:
Currently, there are 14 Democrats and 10 Republicans in the Senate. In the November 2008 general election, the New Hampshire State Senate became the first state legislative body in the United States to have more female than male members. When the new session convened in December 2008, the state senate’s membership comprised 13 women and 11 men. The senate positions of President, President Pro Tem, Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, and Majority Whip will each be held by women in the 2008-2009 session.
