....property taxes too high?

[Merrymeeting]

Originally Posted by jeffk

The tax rate is based on the spending of the town spread over the available tax base of property. If a town wants to spend itself into high taxation, that is certainly the right of its residents to decide that.

Oh if only it was that simple. Here's an example. Wolfeboro and New Durham are both part of the Gov. Wentworth Regional School district. In the case of New Durham, the school portion of the tax bill is more than 70% of the total bill.

Wolfeboro's tax rate $12.64

New Durham's tax rate $22.96

What drives the difference is that Wolfeboro has fewer kids in the system and a many, many more highly assessed properties that don't send kids to the schools. Given the number of votes on the school board, New Durham is often outvoted when it comes to voting down school increases. So we often have little control over the yearly increase in taxes, even when town spending remains constant.

Yes, there is always the option of opting out of the district, but the contract penalties would offset any advantage.

[tis]

Originally Posted by Merrymeeting

Oh if only it was that simple. Here's an example. Wolfeboro and New Durham are both part of the Gov. Wentworth Regional School district. In the case of New Durham, the school portion of the tax bill is more than 70% of the total bill.

Wolfeboro's tax rate $12.64

New Durham's tax rate $22.96

What drives the difference is that Wolfeboro has fewer kids in the system and a many, many more highly assessed properties that don't send kids to the schools. Given the number of votes on the school board, New Durham is often outvoted when it comes to voting down school increases. So we often have little control over the yearly increase in taxes, even when town spending remains constant.



Yes, there is always the option of opting out of the district, but the contract penalties would offset any advantage.

Merrymeeting, did you know that Tuftonboro pays the most per student in the district at $22,000. per student? Wolfeboro is next at 19,000. New Durham pays 14,266, Brookfield 15,282, Ossipee 11,799. I don't know about Effingham. These were from 2015 the latest figure available. The average cost per student in the district is 15,900. I wonder how Alton does with the new school?

[Merrymeeting]

Originally Posted by tis

Merrymeeting, did you know that Tuftonboro pays the most per student in the district at $22,000. per student? Wolfeboro is next at 19,000. New Durham pays 14,266, Brookfield 15,282, Ossipee 11,799. I don't know about Effingham. These were from 2015 the latest figure available. The average cost per student in the district is 15,900. I wonder how Alton does with the new school?

Hi Tis, no I didn't know those figures and I've been trying to understand the GWSD funding model for some time. It doesn't make sense to me that the cost/student would vary by town. If you have a link or pointer to how all this works, I'd appreciate a PM. Continuing this here would sidetrack the original discussion.