House and Senate Democrats Secure Money for the Children in Their Towns

July 31, 2020 • Saved under Letters
By Pecco Beaufays

In 2019, House and Senate Democrats passed a compromise budget and got it signed by the governor, which returned more state funds to New Hampshire towns for the purposes of property tax relief, education, and municipal expenses. This plan is called “revenue sharing.”
The state collects a large fraction of the property taxes collected by the towns, a portion of which is called SWEPT (State-Wide Education Property Tax). SWEPT doesn’t leave Andover but is applied to the local school AE/MS. 

SWEPT funding, however, only pays $3,636 per student, and the town must raise the rest through additional taxes based on assessed property values. Since the average cost of education across New Hampshire is $17,000 per student, a large part of the “adequate education” mandated by the New Hampshire Constitution is essentially unfunded. 

For example, at last year’s Andover School District meeting, AE/MS expenses ran about $22,000 per student, because the state did not honor its commitment to pay pensions for retiring teachers (as well as police and other Town employees), leaving the Town to cover that shortfall as well.
Our State Representatives, Ken Wells and David Karrick, voted in favor of the House Budget that was passed in 2019, returning (in 2020) $51,000 to Andover, $70,000 to Danbury, and $21,000 to Salisbury. The same budget promises (in 2021) $115,000 to Andover, $106,000 to Danbury, and $96,000 to Salisbury. These figures are based, not on property values or what the towns are able to pay, but on school enrollment and the number of children eligible for the Free and Reduced Lunch program. Roughly 40% of Andover’s children qualify, and over 55% in Danbury qualify, based on the low incomes reported by their households.
Andover residents can trust incumbent Ken Wells and Faith Minton, who is running to fill David Karrick’s position as incoming state representative, to continue representing our interest in the legislative branch of our state government if we will give them our vote in November.

On behalf of the kids in our towns: Thank you for helping us.