Meagan Burger

Testimony in Opposition to HB 1799 I am writing in opposition to HB 1799 because, despite its stated intentions, this bill does not address the core problem at the heart of New Hampshire’s school funding crisis: the state’s continued over-reliance on local property taxes. While HB 1799 adjusts adequacy funding formulas, it does so without establishing a sustainable, statewide revenue structure to support those increases. As a result, the bill risks creating the appearance of progress while leaving property-poor towns and middle-income homeowners shouldering the same disproportionate burden they have carried for decades. In some communities, this burden is already unsustainable — especially for seniors on fixed incomes and families struggling to keep up with rising housing costs. The recent ConVal and Rand rulings made it clear that the state must meet its constitutional obligation to fund an adequate education without shifting the responsibility onto local property taxpayers. HB 1799 does not meaningfully change that dynamic. Instead, it maintains the same structural imbalance while layering on new costs and expectations that municipalities will ultimately be forced to absorb. New Hampshire needs a school funding solution that is both constitutional and fair — one that reduces, rather than reinforces, the inequities between property-rich and property-poor towns. HB 1799 does not meet that standard. Until the Legislature commits to a revenue model that does not rely so heavily on local property taxes, we will continue to see the same disparities, the same instability, and the same pressure on homeowners who are already stretched thin. For these reasons, I respectfully urge the committee to vote Inexpedient to Legislate on HB 1799.