HB1636

It is a no-brainer to support this bill! We NEED more revenue.

I am in favor of HB1636. Costs to our town continue to increase. The state is not meeting its financial obligations in many respects. That means our town is on the hook and that is driving up our property taxes.

Tax the rich, greater than $500,000/yr 45% then $1MM 50% $10MM up 75%. Legalize marijuana ffs, tax second homes 5X more for out of staters, waterfront 10X with exception of middle class owners ($200K to $500K/yr). Double or triple cost for tolls to out of staters, tax corporations, reach out for additional recommendations when you finish these up.

Urging you support HB 1636 = the Dept. of Revenue Administration to simply identify revenue options for the legislature to meet its constitutional duty to fund an adequate education, as mandated by the ConVal decision. This bill directs the NH Department of Revenue Administration to provide several different revenue options so lawmakers can have detailed, data-driven options to increase school funding from the state to reduce the increasing strain on local property taxpayers. HB 1636 is solution oriented, not a tax or mandated policy outcome. ConVal represents nearly 60% of NH students from mostly struggling towns, including my ancestral home of Claremont. The Supreme Cort explicitly states our state obligation to an adequate education. Expensive Defeat of this legislation both abuses taxpayer money while denying students their Constitutional rights. Over thirty years and multiple Supreme Court education rulings, the judiciary has deferred repeatedly to the legislature, trusting in the legislative oath. However, education funding passed by the legislature through unconstitutional biennial budgets trigger a court duty to intervene to uphold the Constitutional rights of our youth. Unconstitutional budgets also violate each legislator’s oath of office. I urge you to support HB 1636. The Department of Revenue Administration can identify various options for the legislature to comply with our state Constitution. Cornelia Sargent, ward 2 Claremont NH

Am unable to attend today's hearing on HB 1636 because of a previous commitment. But I urge this committee to give a positive Ought To Pass Recommendation on this bill. We need some advice on how to raise more revenue for New Hampshire, & asking state department heads for their input on how to raise more revenue could be very fruitful. Thank you.

I strongly support HB 1636 and urge the committee to recommend it as Ought to Pass. For more than three decades, New Hampshire has failed to meet its constitutional obligation to fund an adequate education. As a result, local property taxpayers have been forced to absorb costs that rightly belong at the state level. This quiet cost shift has become unsustainable and has left New Hampshire with one of the highest property tax burdens in the nation. HB 1636 does not impose a new tax. It does not predetermine a revenue source. It does not take decision-making authority away from the Legislature or the public. What it does — and what makes it so important — is direct the Department of Revenue Administration to do the careful, professional work that should have been done years ago: to study realistic, legally sound options for generating sufficient state revenue to meet the minimum adequacy threshold already defined by the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Asking the DRA to present a menu of revenue options is a responsible first step. It allows lawmakers and the public to debate solutions using facts, modeling, and transparent analysis rather than assumptions, slogans, or fear. Without this information, meaningful reform is impossible — and the default outcome remains continued pressure on local property taxpayers. The estimated cost of this study is modest when weighed against the scale of the problem. Property taxpayers are currently covering hundreds of millions of dollars each year in unfunded education costs. Continuing to ignore this structural imbalance costs far more — economically, socially, and in public trust — than the price of a serious revenue analysis. HB 1636 acknowledges an unavoidable reality: New Hampshire cannot meet modern education obligations using outdated funding tools alone. Studying options is not radical. It is prudent governance. Regardless of where one ultimately stands on specific revenue proposals, the public deserves an honest, comprehensive assessment of the choices before us. HB 1636 provides exactly that, and for that reason, it deserves broad support.

The state needs more revenue. How to get it is worth looking at.

This study is absolutely necessary if we are to save our state from irreparable harm. We cannot continue successfully with the revenue stream being so dependent on property tax and innumerable fees; the revenue from gaming has never been fulsome. I'm old enough to remember when the original State lottery was sold as THE answer to funding education. Yeah. Right.

The state needs more income. So YES on this bill.

This is a constructive use of legislators time. Please include consideration of increasing the Business Excise Tax and reinstituting the dividend and interest tax.

I support this bill - NH needs to look for a variety of revenue sources since the budget is underfunded to meet the state's needs.

Yes please do find better funding sources for revenue besides just passing everything on to the towns and squeezing the property owners, many of whom are on fixed incomes.

New Hampshire's property taxpayers have been paying the state's unpaid share of local education costs for more than 30 years because the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide an adequate education. The additional burden on property taxpayers has resulted in New Hampshire having the 4th highest property tax rates among the 50 states. This is unsustainable and untenable. Property taxpayers are at the breaking point. HB 1636 is legislation that's long overdue and would require the Department of Revenue Administration to hire consultants to develop no fewer than 5 options to raise an estimated $500 million a year in state revenue. That would be an almost 50% increase of the state’s current spending on local education and would meet the “minimum conservative threshold” base adequacy as ruled by the New Hampshire supreme court. The DRA's analysis would provide a report to the public and the legislature that would allow the legislature to consider detailed options to increase the state's share of school funding, which would reduce the strain on local property taxpayers. Please support HB 1636 to ensure the state legislature has the options to consider the best course of action going forward to provide much needed property tax relief and ensure the minimum amount of state funding for public schools. Thank you.

New Hampshire's property taxpayers have been paying the state's unpaid share of local education costs for more than 30 years because the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide an adequate education. The additional burden on property taxpayers has resulted in New Hampshire having the 4th highest property tax rates among the 50 states. This is unsustainable and untenable. Property taxpayers are at the breaking point. HB 1636 is legislation that's long overdue and would require the Department of Revenue Administration to hire consultants to develop no fewer than 5 options to raise an estimated $500 million a year in state revenue. That would be an almost 50% increase of the state’s current spending on local education and would meet the “minimum conservative threshold” base adequacy as ruled by the New Hampshire supreme court. The DRA's analysis would provide a report to the public and the legislature that would allow the legislature to consider detailed options to increase the state's share of school funding, which would reduce the strain on local property taxpayers. Please support HB 1636 to ensure the state legislature has the options to consider the best course of action going forward to provide much needed property tax relief and ensure the minimum amount of state funding for public schools. Thank you.

Raise tax revenues from the big businesses in this state. Bring back the dividends and interest tax. Do not increase gambling options thru games of chance. They hurt the poor.

Supports Local Control: It restricts local governments from entering into agreements that might conflict with state policy, ensuring towns and counties aren't forced to support private immigration facilities.

How can legislators and citizens have useful discussions about revenue options without some solid, trusted data about how the different options would impact our state and the people who live here?

It is rediculous to think that our state wouldn't even consider looking at ways to reduce property taxes. Many of us are being taxed out of our homes.

We need property relief. Studying different funding options must be done in order to relieve property taxes that are exploding beyond the average NH property owners ability to pay.

Dear Sir or Madame Property tax relief is long over due. The State has been negligent is providing adequate funds for public education.. It is imperative that the State Legislature develop options on how to fund public education fairly.

Totally support of finding other means of revenue besides the trickle down to local property owners.

My name is Karen Bemis and I live and vote in Bristol, and recreate in beautiful Newfound Lake. I SUPPORT this bill because it's critical that the NH Dept of Revenue Administration provides several different revenue options so lawmakers can have detailed, data-driven options to increase school funding from the state to reduce the strain on local proper taxpayers. NH has a constitutional responsibility to fund an adequate education for every student, while also reducing pressure on local taxpayers and this bill allows lawmakers to examine revenue options transparently.

We definitely need new revenue sources to support public education which will help reduces property taxes for all.

Dear Members of the House Executive Departments & Administration Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to write in support of HB 1636. Identifying different and sustainable revenue sources to fund public education in the Granite State will alleviate strain on local property taxes. As a homeowner in Milford, NH, my property taxes increased by 19% in December 2025 over the July 2025 tax bill. It is a trend in increases that is just unsustainable. I worry about the long term affordability of home ownership, especially for our citizens living on fixed incomes. While I am a duly elected member of the Milford School Board, my testimony is solely my own. Funding from the State of New Hampshire allows our school board to meet the obligation to public education and provide the quality our students deserve. Currently, New Hampshire’s contribution to the Milford School District budget is less than 17%, while property taxes and federal aid disseminated through the State make up the remaining revenue in our $52 Million budget. In recent years, the State of New Hampshire has provided additional grant funding that has allowed us to upgrade security measures in our five school buildings, as well as filter the lead out of the drinking water in our schools. This State grant funding has ensured we can make infrastructure improvements without increasing property taxes rates for these needed upgrades. Increasing State adequacy aid per pupil, as decided in the recent ConVal court decision, will effectively decrease property tax rates for our hard working Milford residents, while still maintaining the public schools that our community members cherish.