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Plan to let taxpayers opt out of locally adopted credits draws sharp administrative warnings
Summary
HB 1,400 would let individual property owners opt out of paying toward locally adopted property‑tax credits and exemptions by checking a form box; proponents argued choice and fairness while DRA and municipal officials warned of major software, administrative and fiscal consequences. The committee recommended ITL.
Jonathan Smith (selectboard chair, Ossipee) presented HB 1,400 proposing an opt‑out mechanism so property owners could decline to subsidize locally adopted tax credits and exemptions. Smith said the proposal is a narrow way to give taxpayers a choice: "It would be as simple as a taxpayer checking that box...they're no longer gonna be assessed for those portions of credits and exemptions within the operating budget."
Opponents, including the New Hampshire Municipal Association and Jennifer Ramsey from the Department of Revenue Administration, warned the change would substantially complicate rate setting and tax administration. Ramsey told the committee that the current PA‑29 form is not submitted annually and recommended a new DRA form; she said the state’s tax‑rate portal and many local systems cannot support multiple tax bases without costly upgrades and possibly replacing core systems, with an estimated cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Municipal officials said the proposal could create multiple tax rates (an "opt‑out" base and an "opt‑in" base) and shift revenue unpredictably, generating inequities and administrative burdens. Witnesses argued that while some voters want to avoid subsidizing narrowly adopted credits, the bill risks creating cascading revenue‑and‑software problems for municipalities and collectors.
Committee members repeatedly raised concerns about unintended consequences for elderly and other vulnerable taxpayers and the absence of a fiscal note. In executive session the committee recommended ITL on HB 1,400.
