Quote:
Originally Posted by wifi
There is no distinction or flag (in Moultonboro) that taxes one group of owners more (or less) than another. Where did you get this understanding from ??
|
Looks like you were not around back in the 80's when the state took over property evaluation to help equalize education payments among towns. This concept is still a mess today and the legislature is still scrambling after the NH Supreme Court shut down the current distribution structure.
Before this whole mess, the towns would appraise properties according to present use, residential, agricultural, commercial, unimproved etc. It made sense to tax the year round residence because they use the schools etc. And the seasonal will get a break.
When the state took over, appraisal is based on the actual RE value of the property, regardless of use. Farmers took a big hit and so did folks with unimproved lots and well as seasonal residents. That is why there was substantial sale of properties in the late 80's and 90's. Many folks could not afford their properties after seeing their property taxes quadrupled and more! Hence the 'view' tax debate by NH farmers in the days. One farmer in Gilford saw a six fold increase in his property tax only because the location of his property has substantial view of the Belknaps, Ossipee and White Mountains.
So Commercial properties and full-time residence who are also the tax payers are happy campers. They saw a big reduction in their property tax.
This is one reason why the current property tax structure is unreasonable. There is growing sentiment of a broad based tax such as the value added tax.
I don't know about Moultonboro, the town is unique as it has more lakefront properties than any other town. Back in the days, Moultonboro had substantial unimproved properties. Now there are very little,