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Supporters pitch HB 669 as constitutional fix to equalize school funding; committee hears models for distribution
Summary
Rep. Smith and other witnesses urged Ways and Means to consider House Bill 669, which would convert the fixed $363 million statewide school tax into a $5 per $1,000 equalized‑value rate remitted to the Education Trust Fund. Proponents said the change would address constitutional concerns and allow the state to redistribute funds to reduce
Rep. Representative Smith opened the public hearing on House Bill 669 by describing the bill as a simple, constitutional way to raise revenue for the Education Trust Fund: set an equalized statewide rate of $5 per $1,000 of assessed equalized property value and remit proceeds directly to the state education trust fund rather than letting municipalities retain the current swept revenue.
Nut graf: Supporters said HB 669 would make the statewide education tax constitutionally uniform by applying a single rate to every property owner in the state and could raise roughly $1.62 billion in fiscal year 2026 — thereby providing new resources to address special education, adequacy and other statewide priorities. Opponents and several members asked detailed questions about distribution mechanisms and local impacts; witnesses proposed pairing the new revenue with bills to pay special education or raise base adequacy so towns could reduce local levies.
Smith told the committee the bill would shift the current $363 million fixed amount to a rate set by statute; all revenue from the new rate would flow to the Education Trust Fund. "This is a state tax," Smith said, "and under the state constitution, we believe in equal responsibility, and that's all that this bill does." He told members the proposal could help eliminate the practice of localities retaining so‑called "swept" funds and allow the state to craft a fairer distribution system.
Multiple witnesses and lawmakers debated how new state revenue could be spent. Zach Sheehan of the New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project provided an illustrative model: pairing HB 669's revenue with two other bills under consideration (one to fully fund special education costs and another to increase base adequacy) would reduce median equalized school property tax rates in many towns and lower the highest property‑tax rates across the state. Former Rep. Douglas Hall described the 1999 reform that initially created a statewide component and argued restoring a meaningful statewide rate would address the legal challenges (he cited prior legislative history showing a higher statewide share in the past).
Representatives asked how implementation would work, whether DRA or municipalities would collect the tax locally and remit to the state, and what transition timing and distribution formulas would follow. Witnesses recommended equalized valuation as the base for rate setting and suggested transition windows to avoid fiscal disruption. DRA staff later provided updated revenue estimates and cautioned that earlier surplus estimates for the Education Trust Fund had declined as revenue projections changed.
Ending: The hearing closed with no committee action. The record shows HB 669 aims to move New Hampshire from a mostly local‑funded school system toward a more equalized state funding model; lawmakers will face detailed choices about distribution, transition timing and offsets to other education revenue streams.
