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Committee votes not to advance HB 1040, citing complexity and municipal implementation concerns
Summary
The committee voted 16–0 not to recommend HB 1040, which would include interest in abated property tax refunds at a rate set by the Department of Revenue Administration; members and municipal assessors found the draft confusing and difficult to implement.
The committee unanimously voted not to recommend HB 1040 for further legislation after members and municipal stakeholders called the draft complex and unclear.
Representative Power and others recalled that the bill’s prime sponsor acknowledged the measure needs more work. Members reported testimony from municipal assessors and the New Hampshire Municipal Association opposing the bill for a variety of implementation and administrative reasons. Keen Meng Wang of the Department of Revenue Administration took no position but described the practical difficulty of implementing the bill as written.
Committee members said the draft raised operational questions—how interest would be calculated and applied, administrative burden on assessors, and whether current systems can track refunds and interest at scale. The committee closed the morning work session on HB 1040 and later, in executive session, moved to "do not recommend for further study." The clerk recorded the roll-call result as 16 to 0 in favor of not recommending the bill.
What happens next: Sponsors may rework the bill text to clarify calculation and administrative procedures if they wish to pursue the concept again.
