HB 634-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2003 SESSION
10/01
HOUSE BILL 634-FN-LOCAL
This bill requires that the tax rate for local school district taxes not exceed twice the rate of the statewide education property tax.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03-0432
10/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three
AN ACT establishing a limit on the applicable tax rate for local school district taxes.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Findings. The general court finds that significant progress has been made in reducing the disparity in property tax rates to fund public schools since the state education property tax was first enacted in 1999, and that "capping" or limiting the amount of additional taxes that can be raised from property taxes will prevent the re-shifting of excessive school tax burdens on property poor communities.
2 School District Report of Appropriations. Amend RSA 21-J:34, II to read as follows:
II. A report filed by the governing body of each city, town, unincorporated town, unorganized place, school district, and village district shall certify the appropriations voted by the meeting of the appropriate legislative body, whether city or town council, mayor and council, or mayor and board of aldermen, at each annual or special town, school district, or village district meeting. This report shall be filed within 20 days of the close of the meeting. Local school district appropriations shall not be approved if they result in a tax rate contrary to RSA 72:73.
3 New Paragraph; Setting of Tax Rates. Amend RSA 21-J:35 by inserting after paragraph VI the following new paragraph:
VII. In establishing the tax rate of each city, town, or unincorporated place pursuant to this section, the commissioner of revenue administration shall not set a tax rate for local school district appropriations voted by any city council or school district in excess of the maximum rate of taxation allowed under RSA 72:73.
4 New Subdivision; Local Education Limitation. Amend RSA 72 by inserting after section 72 the following new subdivision:
72:73 Local Education Limitation. No property taxable under this chapter and RSA 73 shall be assessed property taxes for the support of local education as authorized in RSA 76:8, III at a rate which exceeds twice the equalized rate of the statewide education property tax as listed on the tax bill under RSA 76:11-a.
5 Commissioner's Warrant; Local Education Limitation. Amend RSA 76:8, III to read as follows:
III. Municipalities, subject to the limitation in RSA 72:73, are authorized to assess local property taxes necessary to fund school district appropriations not funded by the education property tax, by distributions from the education trust fund under RSA 198:39, or by other revenue sources.
6 School District Assessment. Amend RSA 194:7 to read as follows:
194:7 Assessment. The selectmen, subject to the limitation in RSA 72:73, shall annually assess upon the ratable estate of the district a sum equal to the amounts determined by the district, and shall pay over the same to the district treasurer.
7 Effective Date. This act shall take effect April 1, 2003.
LBAO
03-0432
Revised 2/19/03
HB 634 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing a limit on the applicable tax rate for local school district taxes.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Revenue Administration indicates this bill will decrease local revenue by $67 million and may increase state general fund expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2004 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state and county revenue or county and local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department estimated the decrease in local tax revenues by using the tax rates set in 2002 and comparing those rates to two times the statewide property tax rate of $5.80. 103 municipalities will be subject to the decrease. The Department indicates that state general fund expenditures may increase if the state is required to pay for mandated programs that districts cut because of the decrease in local revenue.