Page 15 - NLL - OCT2026

October 2026 NEWFOUNDLAKELIFE.COM Page 15 Elections
Newfound's Children and Taxpayers Are Paying
By ReBeCCa haRneD
Every year, residents of Al- exandria, Bristol, Danbury, and New Hampton come together to debate school budgets, ask diffi- cult questions, and decide what we believe our children’s educa- tion is worth.
This year, those choices be- came especially painful.
The Newfound Area School District developed a proposed budget of approximately $28.3 million. When voters rejected it, the district was forced to op- erate under a default budget of just over $27 million - requiring roughly $1.25 million in reduc- tions. Athletics, extracurricular activities, field trips, staffing, and even the future of Danbury El- ementary School were suddenly on the line. The School Board ul- timately voted to close Danbury Elementary while preserving staff and student programs where pos- sible.
These were not abstract num-
the Price for State Inaction
bers on a spreadsheet. They rep- resented a neighborhood school, opportunities for students, jobs for educators, and the future of communities across the New- found region.
I have seen firsthand how carefully school budgets are de- veloped. They are reviewed line- by-line by school board members, budget committee members, and taxpayers. These discussions are often difficult, but the people in- volved generally share the same goal - providing children with an excellent education at a cost tax- payers can afford.
The real question is why local communities are being forced to carry so much of that cost in the first place.
New Hampshire spends ap- proximately $22,700 per student, placing us among the high- est-spending states. The most recent official figure for the New- found Area School District is ap- proximately $22,721 per student based on 2025 figures reported
by the New Hampshire Depart- ment of Public Education.
Some people see that number and conclude that our schools al- ready receive more than enough funding. But that is only half the story.
The problem is not simply how much New Hampshire spends. It is who pays.
When you look at how much the State of New Hampshire contributes, we rank last in the nation. Dead last.
The State of New Hamp- shire contributed only 28% to 29% compared to a national average of 44% to 45%. In turn, local property taxes cover roughly 71% to 72% of educa- tion costs. And even that “state share” is misleading, because a significant portion of the State’s Education Trust Fund is derived from the Statewide Education Property Tax (SWEPT) - a tax also raised directly from local property owners and then redis- tributed through Concord.
When you separate true state revenue from local property taxes routed through the state, the State’s real contribution to edu- cation is even smaller - leaving homeowners to carry most of the cost of educating our children.
Adequate state funding for education is not a partisan policy preference - it is codified in the New Hampshire Constitution. Part II, Article 83 which requires the state to cherish the interest of public schools and to “encourage and support” education. In prac- tice, the New Hampshire Su- preme Court has interpreted this to mean the state has a constitu- tional obligation to provide an adequate education and to fund it in a way that does not rely pri- marily on local property wealth.
Currently, that constitutional obligation is not being met. New- found’s experience should serve as a warning about the impact on children and schools when the State fails to meet it’s Consti- tutional obligation to adequately
fund public education.
The result is easy to see every
time a property tax bill arrives in the mail, another education program ends, and another local school is shuttered.
Families, seniors, and first- time homebuyers are being squeezed harder every year. When local budgets increase be- cause costs continue to rise, cur- rent state leaders point the finger at towns and accuse them of overspending. That's backward.
To reduce property taxes, we must address the source of the problem.
That starts with the State meeting its responsibility to fund public education.
It also means spending ex- isting taxpayer dollars more re- sponsibly.
I do not support a broad- based income tax or sales tax. We don't need one. Instead, we
HARNED
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